De Mei Animus
by Spirit Of Innocence
Summary: She was forbidden to fall in love. He had never even entertained thoughts of the over-rated emotion. Despite their choices, circumstances and feelings, they are inexplicably drawn to each other. For better or for worse. KaiOC, slight TyHil.
1. The Girl, The Tournament and The Boy Who

YAY! My first fic! -Does the happy first fic dance-.

Hi, I'm Soi. Well, I'm acutally Spirit Of Innocence, but Soi for short. Like soy milk, soy cheese or soy chocolate (which by the way is disgusting) except with an I instead of a Y and a capital. But that's entirely beside the point!

I'd tell you what my story's about but that's what the summary's for and I'm presuming you've already read that so instead I'll fill you in on what's left out of the summary! Like the fact that this is no ordinary tournament story, I assure you it's unlike any you've read. And this is no ordinary romance either.

The entire story will be about 30 chapters long and there will probably be a sequel, not sure yet. I know this chapter is long (about 8000 words), the next one is about the same but they will get shorter, promise. I'm not a big fan of the short chapter so mine will, for the most part, be longer than 4000 words. If everyone hates this then I can shorten them further, but I'd prefer not to.

By the way, the first name you hear my OC called is Kay. This is not her name, it's just a rarely used nickname. I wouldn't make the pairing Kai and Kay. That's just weird. For the moment I won't tell you what her real name is, you'll just have to read and find out. Evil, aren't I?

I do not own Beyblade, any of its characters, settings or concepts. I do, however, own my OC.

So with out further ado...

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**The Girl, The Tournament and The Boy Who Was Late!**

A young blader walked along the street, his shoes tapping on the pavement. His green blade was nestled deep within his pocket and a launcher was strapped to his belt. He had blond hair, clear turquoise eyes and wore a green and yellow t-shirt and orange pants.

He was whistling a merry tune as he walked and marched his footsteps to the rhythm, swinging his arms to and fro. Overall he had a very carefree air about him.

"Yo, Max," someone called from across the street. Max turned and spotted a familiar face.

"RAY!" Max exclaimed, thoroughly surprised to see his old friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I guess." supplied Ray with a smile, running across the street to where his friend waited with a hand out stretched. Ray grabbed it in a firm shake.

"Guess you've heard about the tournament then?" asked Max though it was hardly a question. Ray grinned and his golden eyes shone playfully from beneath his black bangs. His hair was very long but tied at the back and wrapped with cloth. He wore a traditional white Chinese top over black baggy pants.

"Yep, and I've come to join with the BladeBreakers."

Max gawked at him. "No way. Me too." Ray laughed.

"Your team kick you off too?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. They said they 'needed to know they could make it to the finals without me.'" Max told him.

"Same with the White Tigers," Ray explained' "but that's okay. I've really missed blading along side you and Tyson."

"Yeah! BladeBreakers Reunite!" cried Max happily.

"Yeah." Agreed Ray, though he was somewhat more hesitant.

"You okay buddy?" Max questioned his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine Max." Ray told him, smiling. "But it won't be a proper reunion without Kai. And I doubt he's planning on coming back anytime soon."

"Oh…right." Max sighed. That was true, the Russian blader had left the BladeBreakers after their success at the BEGA Big Five Tournament. He had told no one where he was going and no one had thought to ask. Max waved it off and grinned stupidly. "Ah well, his loss, right?"

Ray grinned.

"Yeah"

And so they continued on their way to Tyson's dojo

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The conversation continued as the two made their way down the familiar streets. They were discussing the upcoming tournament when the rounded the corner and spotted Tyson's dojo.

"Home sweet home." Cried Max happily. He began running towards the gates.

No one knew very much about the tournament. It had been advertised as "A glimpse at the future of BeyBlading" and "A revolutionary tournament" but that was all that BBA had said. Of course there were many rumours flying about. Everything from "No Bitbeasts" to "Great battles on the top of sky scrapers with giant anvils suspended above the players to come crashing down on the person who lost". There were too many for anyone to say which were true and which were not. Some people said that it was the BBA themselves spreading rumours just to keep people guessing. Only one thing was known for certain. The winner would be crowned "World Champion!"

Ray laughed at his over-joyous friend.

"Hey Max, slow down. It's not a race!" he exclaimed, running to catch up with the blond.

"Says you!" shouted Max over his shoulder but he slowed to a jog and let the Chinese boy catch up. They were beside one another as they entered the gates of the great dojo.

"Just the way I remember it." Ray reminisced, a smile on his face

"Yeah." Max glanced around taking in all the familiar sights. "Should we go through the back or the front?" He asked.

"How about the back, for old time's sake." Ray suggested and began walking without waiting to be answered. Max followed. They passed the pond and stepped up onto the wooden walkway that joined the two main sides of the dojo and ran along the outside wall of the large room where the boys slept during their stays at Tyson's.

Just as the boys were about to enter through the back door a curious noise reached their ears and they stopped to listen.

_HIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA!_

_HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_

Along with this came the sound of feet moving quickly on wood. Shuffling forwards and backwards, dodging and attacking in an intricate dance. That and the sound of wood on wood as kendo sticks connected. The occasional grunt came from one of the fighters as a result of strenuous attacks.

Then a different sound.

_THUD!_

"OUCH! TYSON!" an enraged feminine voice cried from inside.

"Oops, sorry. OW, HEY, what was that for!" and that was the familiar voice of Tyson, long time friend and World Champ.

"Snooze ya lose, buddy." Replied the voice of the female but this time her voice was wrapped in amusement instead of anger. And she added quietly "Loser." But the boys heard and exchanged glances. It was a girl sparing with Tyson, that much was certain. However it was no girl Ray or Max knew. It was not Hilary that was for sure. For one thing the brunette _cheerleader _didn't know kendo but her voice was also distinctly different. Plus there was no way that the stubborn World Champ would ever apologise to her.

But this left a very interesting question. If it were a girl, and not Hilary, fighting with Tyson, then who was it? And how did Tyson know her? They were obviously fairly well acquainted for her to calling him a loser. It couldn't have been just someone who had randomly challenged him to a match and who he barely knew. Someone like that would be more polite to the World Champ.

Of course Ray and Max had to keep in mind the fact that they had been away from Japan for almost a year and it had been six months since either had seen Tyson. He could have easily met and befriended someone in that time. He could even have a Girlfriend, it was possible.

"Who's that?" asked Max.

"Dunno." Replied Ray. "Lets go in."

The boys walked inside and across to the training room. The large room where the boys slept was dark but lit by a sliver of light flowing from the training room where Tyson and the mystery girl were sparring. In the light of the door a figure stood. The boys came closer to see none other than Hilary standing open mouthed watching what ever was going on inside.

Her eyes were wide which seemed to exaggerate her gaping mouth. But it was not out of shock, surprise or even amazement but more of a kind of hypnotism. Like the way some people become after watching too much TV.

"Hey, Hilary." Max called to the girl who immediately jumped and turned to see the two standing in the light of the door.

"Maxie!" she squealed, delighted to see her old friend. However she covered her mouth almost instantly. When she uncovered it she repeated his name but this time so quietly that it couldn't be heard over constant yelling coming from the ongoing fight. Then she saw Ray and in turn mouthed his name. Her eyes shimmered with excitement and she threw her arms around the boys. One arm around each of their necks with her head between theirs.

"Aw…Hilary." Ray wrapped an arm around the girl as did Max. She pulled away after a moment blushing slightly and shushed them by bringing a finger to her lips. She was obviously trying not to disturb the fighters in the other room. Maybe she didn't want them to know she was watching. She gestured towards the doorway with her head and then walked to it herself, crouching on the ground so that the boys could peer in over her head.

No one made a sound.

The training room was as the boys remembered it. A plain room fashioned the same way as the rest of the dojo. It had two head-high windows and many racks on the walls where assorted weapons hung.

Facing them was Tyson. Both fighters were taking a breather. They were standing a few feet away from one another panting heavily. Tyson had his navy blue hair back in its usual ponytail but without his trademark hat, obviously discarded for the fight. Instead of his usual outfit, jeans, yellow t-shirt and red jacket, he wore a dark navy gi. The top half was lighter. His brown eyes were sparkling excitedly from beneath his bangs. (1)

The girl had her back facing the door so it was quite impossible to see her face. However from the back you could see that she sported the same kind of gi as Tyson although the top half was even lighter, almost white, probably so that you could tell the female from the male gi. She had a slender figure with the right amount of chest and hips. Of course this was observed through the lose gi. The front of her hair could not be seen but the back was beautiful. It flowed down a ways and then turned inward finishing in a point at her hips. It was midnight black but highlighted, it appeared, naturally with dark blue.

Suddenly Tyson launched forward with the kendo stick raised in attack. The girl noticed only in the nick of time and dodged. Tyson, now behind her, turned quickly to lunch another attack but the girl was ready. She turned on the tip of her toes and hurled herself forward with the kendo stick held horizontally. The hilt in her right hand, her left hand providing support to the end of the kendo stick. She held it in a defensive position. But now she was facing the door and the boys could see her clearly.

Their first good look at her had come as she turned. She had been graceful, turning on the tips of her toes instead of shuffling her feet like Tyson. Her beautiful hair flowed out behind her and now they could see the front. Two fairly large bangs flowed from a central part. They finished at around her collarbone and pointed slightly inward. They were highlighted blue also.

As she turned, her mouth was set in an open smile of pure joy. Her cheeks were flushed from the battle and were gleaming with sweat. But her most stunning facial features and possibly her most stunning features of all were her eyes. Like Tyson's they were shining with excitement and happiness for the fight but instead of brown, her eyes were blue with flecks of silver. And the most spectacular sapphire blue they were.

She held him off easily when the attack came, bending her knees a little to support the weight. Then she pushed him off and the fight continued. This time Tyson's attack came from the side and again the mystery girl blocked it. For a while they continued in this way neither gaining an obvious upper hand. With one last _WHAM_ Tyson stepped back to catch his breath. The girl followed suit.

"Is that all you've got Tyson?" she asked.

"Not even close." Tyson bragged although he was panting heavily. He laughed and the girl took that moment of weakness to launch her attack. She hurtled forward with the intent of bringing the kendo stick into his side but Tyson was too fast. He ducked and turned. His kendo stick hit her behind the knees causing her knees to buckle and her to fall to the ground with a surprised squeak.

The girl brought up her kendo stick to ward off his attacks but Tyson paid no mind to it and instead made a perfect beeline for her neck with his own kendo stick. The girl yelped and closed her eyes, the kendo stick useless above her head. No impact came. She opened her eyes slowly. Tyson had stopped his attack mere centimetres from her exposed neck. He looked down on her with a very 'un-Tyson-like' look and then threw his kendo stick to the side of the room.

He held his hand out for her but to everyone's surprise she swatted it away angrily.

"YOU ALWAYS WIN!" she yelled in his face.

He grinned at her as if saying 'Yeah, isn't it cool?'

"I can't stand it. You beat me at kendo and running, you can do more sit ups than me, you're even a better cook than me!" She cried almost hysterical. "Is there nothing you can't do Tyson?"

"Um…" poor Tyson had no idea what to say. "Well you're smarter than me." He ventured feebly. She snorted. "Aw…come on Kay, you did really good. I was nearly spent. I just had to take you out fast or you would of got me. You're getting much better. Really."

'Kay' grinned at him "Thanks Tyson." She said.

Tyson put his hand behind his head and laughed. "Yeah, whatever." He walked over to where he had thrown his kendo stick and picked it up, putting it on the rack in front of him. The girl's kendo stick went in the rack below his.

"So…where were you and Hilary today? I haven't seen either of you since _this morning_," he said the last two words bitterly and shuddered, "although I was trying to put that out of mind."

She laughed remembering the rather wet wake-up call they had subjected Tyson to that morning. As cruel as it had been, it was also hilariously funny. "Why do you ask Tyson? Were you worried about us? About Hilary?", she asked him with a sly grin.

Tyson turned a deep shade of red. "OF COURSE NOT! I was just asking…"

The girl laughed at him. "Sure Tyson and just so you know, we were shopping."

"So why didn't you tell me? I would've come."

She gave him a sceptical look. "I think not…or have you forgotten the last million times we've asked you to come with us and had to basically drag you out the door?" she rolled her eyes, "You hate shopping Tyson. And besides I thought it was probably better for my health to stay far, far away from you after the whole 'Water, in bucket, over sleeping Tyson" incident. Thought you might want revenge…"

"Ah, but I've had my revenge. I just beat you, again." She growled at him, and if looks could kill… he laughed nervously. "So…wanna get ice cream?"

"If that was an attempt to avoid my wrath…then you've done very well my friend." She said, patting his shoulder in mock praise. "But you're buying!"

"Aw man!"

- - - - -

Outside the training room, Hilary watched the two converse. She had forgotten that Max and Ray were waiting to see Tyson for whatever reason they had come. 'Why had they come?' This thought brought her back to reality.

She was about to turn around and ask them that same question, but instead the perfectionist side of Hilary kicked in. They had come here to see Tyson, and see Tyson they would but it would be improper just to walk in with them unannounced. Hilary smirked. This would be fun.

She turned to the boys motioning for them to stay and keep quiet. She opened the door and walked in.

"Wow Ru, that was really impressive. I thought for sure you'd won!" Hilary said with a smile. The girl smiled back.

"Thanks Hil!" she said.

"Aw, come on Hilary, how many times have I told you 'You can't watch us when we're sparing!'" Tyson complained.

"But I didn't make a noise! You didn't even know I was there, did you Tyson? Admit it!"

Tyson growled.

"I really don't see what you're problem is Tyson. I don't mind Hilary watching." Said the girl. "I bet you're just afraid you'll get embarrassed and trip over you're feet if _Hilary's _here." Tyson and Hilary both turned several shades of pink.

"I WOULD NOT!"

"So prove it and let her watch next time." She smirked in a way that said 'I win!'

"Fine," he sighed in defeat and turned to Hilary, "you can watch some time. Whatever."

The girl laughed and high-fived Hilary who was laughing also. "So, you up for ice-cream Hils?"

"Sure. Oh, but first," she moved over to Tyson and held him by the upper arm moving him into place in front of the door. He let her.

"Um…what are you doing Hilary?" He asked.

"Just wait a sec would you. Now close your eyes and hold out your hands like this," She ran her hands down his arms and into his, lifting them and holding them at right angles to his body. She let go, "great. Now just wait and I'll go and get your surprise. No peeking now." Hilary giggled. It felt as if she were instructing a two year old.

"What kind of surprise?" asked an over excited Tyson, opening his eyes.

"TYSON! I said no peeking! Now close your eyes and KEEP THEM CLOSED! Don't worry it's a good surprise, but you wont get it unless you're good."

"Okay!" He grinned childishly and closed his eyes once again.

He heard Hilary walk away and he heard the door open. The next thing he knew there were two dry hands in his sweaty ones.

"What are you doing Hilary?" he asked, naturally presuming it was her holding his hands considering that she was the only one there who wasn't sweaty from the fight. He opened his eyes.

"MAX! RAY! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?" he shouted joyfully grabbing said boys in a tight squeeze. Max laughed.

"Tyson…choking…not…breathing…" gasped Ray.

"Oh, right, sorry!" Tyson laughed, letting them go and scratching the back of his head stupidly. "So, um, why are you guys here?"

"To join the BladeBreakers of course!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Tyson's mouth was hanging open and his brown eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"TYSON! IT'S A MIRACLE! IT'S PERFECT! WE HAVE 4 BLADERS! WE CAN ENTER THE TOURNAMENT!" Hilary was as in as much shock as Tyson with the exception of the fact that her brain was functioning properly. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him for all that she was worth! "It's just perfect!" she mumbled into his hair.

At this stage Tyson began to function again. "HA! YOU GUYS ROCK!" He catapulted himself out of Hilary's grip and towards his friends. He grabbed them both around the neck in a headlock. "YOU ALWAYS HAVE MY BACK. AW…I OWE YOU GUYS BIG TIME FOR THIS ONE!"

"What are you talking about Tyson? What's all this about needing 4 Bladers to be able to enter the tournament?' It was Max who spoke.

"Yeah! And why weren't our old teams told?" Ray added his two cents.

"Huh? You guys didn't know? I guess the Champion team has privileges! Cool!" Tyson grinned.

"Yeah I guess. But why 4 bladers and what do you mean by you 'Owe us'?" Ray asked.

"Well I thought you two had come to help us out cause we only had two bladers, me and Daichi, but I guess not. Well it doesn't matter anymore does it? You guys are here and we're gonna win!"

"For sure, but since when do we need 4 bladers, huh?" Max was still confused and the champ was doing little to clarify.

"Oh, right. Well I don't know exactly. Just that the minimum is 4 and the maximum is 8."

"8?" Max gaped. "But isn't that a lot?"

"Look, how about you guys come get ice-cream with us. You can tell us why you came to join the BladeBreakers and we'll tell you what we know about the tournament. Okay?" Hilary was getting quite annoyed with them all just standing around talking.

"Sure, that sounds good." Said Tyson. "You guys in?"

"Sure, but, er, before we go, who's that?" Ray asked pointing to the girl who was standing behind Tyson.

"Oh, yeah. This is Kaoru." The girl walked to stand beside him. "She's my best friend from when I was just a kid."

Kaoru stepped forward and held out her hand. Max took it.

"Nice to meet you." She said shaking his hand warmly. "Max, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right. Nice to meet you too."

"And Ray? I've heard about you two. The original BladeBreakers. It's nice to finally meet you both!" Kaoru smiled brightly and her blue eyes shone.

"Nice to meet you too." Ray exchanged his pleasantries.

"COME ON GUYS! I'm HUNGRY!"

"You're always hungry Tyson!" Hilary whacked him in the back of the head. Laughter burst forth from the three lookers-on.

Home Sweet Home Indeed!

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"ARE YOU DONE YET HILARY?" Tyson yelled.

They had been standing outside the house for about 20 minutes waiting for Kaoru to finish changing and apparently, for Hilary to do her hair.

"Since when did Hilary care about her hair?" asked Max.

"Since Kaoru came. See Ru's really good at doing hair and makeup so Hilary's just kind of taking advantage of that I guess. I mean she's never had another girl around here so she's just lapping it up while it lasts."

"What do you mean 'while it lasts'?" asked Ray.

"Well, we're not really sure how long she's gonna stay. Maybe five years, maybe a month. She doesn't know and there's nothing I can do to keep her here. She loves travelling. Just being free and doing her own thing." Tyson sighed sadly.

"Oh, so she's not here to stay. Dam." Max sighed. It would have been nice to have another girl around.

"Hilary, I'm hungry…" Tyson whined and his stomach rumbled as if agreeing with him.

"FINE! I WON"T HAVE MY HAIR FRENCH BRAIDED! ARE YOU HAPPY TYSON!" she appeared at the door glaring angrily at Tyson. "FOOD IS JUST SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE ISN'T IT?"

" WELL IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN FRENCH BRAIDS! THAT'S FOR SURE!"

Hilary was wearing a brown skirt with pink lace trim. Around the belt area there were chains on which hung charms. She wore a mostly pink spaghetti strap top. It hung loosely over her bust then became tighter and wrapped around her stomach area; here it varied becoming different shades of pink and orange. She also wore pink strap sandals with a single silver heart in the centre of each. Black and pink heart earrings and a large pink bead necklace accessorized the look, along with two blue hair clips.

Her hair was down. "OF COURSE! BECAUSE YOU'RE MORE IMPORTANT THEN EVERYONE ELSE AREN'T YOU TYSON! WELL EXCUSE ME FOR LIVING!" she stormed past him.

"DON'T YOU THINK THAT ME _STARVING_ IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HAIR?" Tyson turned and walked after her.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS STARVING!"

Max and Ray watched the two storm down the side walk, arguing all the way. Behind them Kaoru appeared at the gates of the dojo and laughed as she watched Tyson and Hilary walk away. The boys turned to her.

"Do they still fight a lot?" asked Max.

"Yeah I'm afraid so. You'd think they'd give it a rest now and again wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I can't believe they're not at least friends by now." Ray agreed.

"Well they are friends, I guess. They actually get along pretty well when they're not fighting, although it's hard to believe. Personally I think they really like each other."

"Yeah. You know I always thought those two would get together." Max spoke, "If for no other reason then because they can already fight like an old married couple." Kaoru laughed.

"I know what you mean. But I agree. They'd be perfect for each other. They'd just never admit it. I don't think Tyson even knows. Though its possible he's just in denial. Hilary I'm not so sure about."

"You think Hilary likes him? I mean _knows _she likes him?" Max looked at Kaoru with one brow raised.

"I think. But she hasn't told me so it's really just a guess." Kaoru sighed.

They three walked in silence for a few minutes.

"So, tell me, how do you know Tyson anyways? I mean a few years ago Tyson hated girls and you mean to tell me his best friend was always one?" Ray asked. Kaoru laughed.

"I think I was an exception. Besides we became friends when we were really young and Tyson had no problem with girls back then." Kaoru smiled, reminiscing. "But it's actually a bit of a long story."

"We have time. Shoot" Max smiled.

"Well…there weren't too many kids who lived around here 15 years ago and Tyson's always been a people person so he was always trying to make friends. But since there were no kids his age he couldn't really. So he used to come to the orphanage and sneak in and hide in the cubby house because all the children there loved having visitors no matter how young or old. And that's how he met me.

The first time he came over the fence it was just the end of recess but I didn't want to go in so I was still in the yard and I saw him. I told him he would be kicked out if he didn't hide so he ran to the cubby house and waited until lunch…I didn't have any friends at the orphanage. I was different to them. More distant, more mysterious. I didn't tell anyone where I was from or anything about my parents. Not that I knew anything. But Tyson was different too. None of it mattered to him and we were just friends. Just like that. So he kept coming every second day. And he helped me make friends with everyone. Then when I was 5 his family adopted me. So yeah."

"That's really cool." Ray was surprised she had just opened up to them like that. She had told them that she was an orphan and that she had had no friends. And she had only known them for about half and hour. "But if you're part of Tyson's family, or whatever, then why weren't you here all the times we came to stay and how come Tyson never told us about you?"

"I'm afraid that that is a longer story again." She sighed.

"Well you might as well start it." Max urged.

"Oh, alright. Well…I know this sounds a little strange but I never liked just being confined to one place. Just living in one house or even one country. I always had to get out and run around and I always longed for the summers when we travelled away from Japan."

"I don't think that's strange. I'm a bit the same way myself." It was Ray who spoke and then smiled at her. Of course she had heard this from Tyson. The way the nekojin would travel to Japan then back to China then to Japan again. Never able to stay comfortably in just one place. She nodded.

"Well, anyway." She continued. "I was 3 when I met Tyson and, like I said, 5 when his family adopted me. So I suppose I'm really his sister but I never thought of us that way. We were always just friends. Best Friends. But when it came to the rest of his family it was different. I hadn't known them very well but Tyson had told them all about me. We all became so close. Hiro was just like a brother. He treated me like his sister too. We fought sometimes but we always made up. Sometimes he was so cruel, just like an older brother, and I couldn't have cared less if the ground had opened up and swallowed him in those moments. But later on I'd realize just how much he did care for me and then I'd feel bad for thinking like that. There was this comfortableness between us. It was weird, I don't know how to describe it…"

"Never mind, just go on." Max said.

"Right. Well you guys never met Tyson's mum did you?" Both boys shook their heads. " Well I did. She was the nicest person I've ever met. The most beautiful too." Kaoru closed her eyes, sweet recollection softening her features. " I can remember her so clearly. It's like she's standing right next to me. I can see every detail." She smiled happily.

Tyson never talked about his mum and it made the boys uncomfortable wondering if that was because he didn't want them to know. They wondered if Kaoru telling them would be like betraying his wishes and glanced nervously at one another. Kaoru, though, seemed to sense their distress.

"Tyson never told you, did he?" She asked in genuine puzzlement.

The boys shook their heads. Kaoru sighed, smiling in almost a sad way.

"Don't worry." She tried to reassure them. "I know Tyson. It's not that he doesn't trust you, more likely he doesn't trust himself." She smiled at their puzzled faces. "He loved her so much, he's probably afraid that if he tries to tell you he'll cry."

Both boys gaped at her. 'Cry' seemed like such a foreign word when speaking of Tyson. All of these years, through all the pain and anguish, not once had they known him to shed a single tear. Kaoru laughed at their stunned faces.

"Lighten up, he's only human." She said happily. "My point is, it's not that Tyson doesn't want you to know but simply that he can't tell you. However…I can. Which only leaves one question. Do you want to know?"

Max and Ray looked at each other in silence and then back to Kaoru. Ray nodded.

"Ok. She had hair the exact same colour, as Tyson's except it was way longer. It came down around her knees in light natural curls but she always had it held back. In a loose ribbon or a plait. She left it out for special occasions. And her eyes were a deep crimson like Hiro's only prettier and more heavily lashed. Her skin was pale but it had a natural glow about it and her lips were peach coloured. She had the most beautiful smile…" Kaoru trailed off a little. "She never let me call her anything but mum, even when we first met and Tyson introduced us. I said 'Hello Mrs. Granger' but she just laughed and told me never to call her that again."

Kaoru stopped talking completely and the boys had a sickening suspicion as to what was coming next. Kaoru stumbled on, choking slightly on her words. "She passed away," the boys winced "I was eight and Tyson was nearly nine. Hiro was twelve…It happened so fast." Her voice cracked and she was forced to stop.

Ray rubbed her shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to go on if you don't want"

"But I do! You're some of Tyson's closest friends. He told me so! You have a right to know!" she coughed and continued. "No one really knew what happened. One day she was fine and the next over-come with sickness. A week later it claimed her. That's all I know. There might be more…if so, I wasn't told."

They walked in silence for a while though their destination was all but forgotten.

"So is that why Hiro ran away?" Max asked.

"Hmm…" Kaoru mumbled breaking free from her thoughts. "You know about that?"

"Yeah, Tyson told us." Max confirmed.

"Oh," she was surprised, "Yes, that's why Hiro ran. He wanted to believe he was just on vacation and that when he came back she'd be here looking after us."

"He was only twelve." Said Ray sadly.

"Maybe, but he was also strong and mature. We knew he could look after himself." She sighed. "And he came back every once in a while to check on us. He never came in but we all knew he was there.

It was just the way he dealt with it. We all had different ways. I felt as if I was an orphan again. Of course the rest of my family was always there but I was so blinded by my grief that I couldn't see them.

And dad was devastated too but he never showed it. His children were more important than his tears and he immediately began looking for a job that would support us all. He would have worked two jobs if he had needed to but opportunity came knocking and he had to accept. The job of working in Egypt was all expense paid for him, which meant that every extra cent could be for us. We begged him not to go but we also knew he had to. So he left us with Grandpa. Perhaps that was another reason Hiro left. One less mouth to feed." She stopped talking.

"What about Tyson?" asked Max slowly and received a disapproving look from Ray.

"Tyson? He was the worst. I had known he loved her more than I had but that much? He changed. He became cold and desolate. He didn't talk to anyone. It was almost as if he had separated his self from the world."

The boys glanced at each other. The description was far too similar to their cold, un-talkative Russian friend. Who would have thought Tyson to be just like Kai?

"That's why I was never here when you came. I turned ten and nothing had changed so I decided that instead of waiting for the change I would make it. When dad returned to Japan for my birthday I told him that I was coming with him when he left. At first he refused but I explained it to him. Tyson and I needed something to happen. If it didn't we would just stay this way forever. Tyson would be cold and distant and I would be afraid and alone. If I came with him I could travel and learn and enjoy myself again. And if I left Tyson would meet new people, happier people, and they would make him happier as well.

Dad knew I could look after myself and after seeing the way Tyson had become he agreed that it was the only way. Tyson begged me to stay when he found out but I told him I couldn't. He yelled at me and said he hated me, he tried everything to get me to stay but I wouldn't. Then at the airport, after ignoring me for a week, I asked him to say goodbye and he cracked. Me knelt before me and cried and begged and begged me not to go. He told me that he loved me and that he couldn't live without me and it broke my heart to have to leave him and not to even be able to say that I'd be back soon." A tear ran down her cheek, not unnoticed. "And so I traveled." Kaoru paused to catch her breath.

"Where." Max asked attentively. In the back of his mind he wondered if Kaoru had meant Love as in Love or Love as in the friendship kind. He guessed the later was more probable.

"Oh, everywhere." Said Kaoru brightening. "Just everywhere. For three years anyway. I came back when I was thirteen to watch Tyson in the Beyblading Pre-lims." She waited for realization to sink in.

"You were here!" Max realized first.

"Then you saw us too?" Ray soon after.

Kaoru laughed. "Yep, you guys were good. Max, you nearly beat Tyson. That was impressive. And Ray, you nearly beat Kai."

"So you know Kai?"

"Not personally, but I've seen him in action and heard about him from Tyson. He's pretty hot." She added as an after thought.

Both boys facefaulted. What an undeniable girlish response!

"Right." Max drawled unsure how to take this girl who had been so open in revealing her past to them and then so upright as to state that one of their closest friends was 'hot'. However true it may be. "So if you were at the Pre-lims why didn't Tyson introduce you?"

"He didn't know I was there. I just came to watch him. I was going to say a quick 'hi' afterwards but he was different and I was afraid he wouldn't remember me. Also he was surrounded by all of you and I didn't want to interrupt." A small smile crossed her features. "I should have. I always regretted that. But anyway. After that I went to Russia. I herd Kai was from there so I thought I'd check it out." The boys each raised an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes. "Not _because_ Kai was from there. I'm not some fan girl. I'd just never been to Russia. But I had been to China and America." The boys blinked at the mention of their home countries. "So I stayed there for a while. Made friends and learned a little of the language. Afterwards I went to China because I heard the first round of the tournament was being held there…"

"You mean you were there too!" Max cut her off. She sent him a look that said something along the lines of 'Let me finish or else'. Max laughed nervously and quietened.

"I was too late. So instead I went to America for the second round but I only got to see the finals. Tyson was horribly jealous of your mum Max." He looked at her in surprise. "But I didn't think you'd noticed. Well obviously I was right. Then I followed you through Europe. That was so cool. I was like a professional BladeBreakers stalker." She laughed.

"_Professional stalker._" Ray echoed her, eyebrow raised.

"Obviously." Max said sarcastically.

Kaoru calmed down. "Oh but it was sooo fun! Once I had to mingle with this travelling fan girl group. They were all so completely taken with Kai. Every single conversation was devoted to him. And I had to act just like them." She shuddered. "They had this chant right, something like…

_Kai I love you,_

_Marry me today._

_Kai I love you,_

_You blow me away!_

And we sung it every time we got within ear shot of him." Kaoru broke off into uproarious laughter.

Max and Ray remembered that chant distinctively. One day it had got on Kai's last nerve and he had given them double training. It was the boys' turn to shudder.

"Anyway, after that I went to Russia with you guys. It was even better the second time. You all did so well in the tournament. I was cheering all the time. Really loudly too, I almost got thrown out. Then I was going to go and see Tyson after the tournament but the same fears took over and I just couldn't." She sighed. "So instead I went to travel around Africa for a year. But close to five years of traveling will really tire a girl out and I just needed some place to crash.

I made some really good friends in Australia and they invited me to stay so I couldn't really decline. I kept posted on your progress. The BladeBreakers won twice while I was living there. When I heard about BEGA I had to come back. I watched them with all their gusto trying to tell you they were going to win but I always knew it was just empty threats. No way they were going to beat my boys!" she exclaimed and giggled a bit.

The two boys found themselves laughing with her. Kaoru had a very uplifting air about her and it was…_interesting_ to be called 'her boys'. When their laughter subsided she finished her story.

"After that I went with Hiro. It was something to do with business. I didn't really ask. We travelled up to Hokkaido and then all the way back down to Kyushu. It was a pretty long trip but I loved being with Hiro again and that made me want to be with Tyson. I missed him so much. Then one night Hiro and I were talking about before Mum died and how Tyson was and I just started crying for him. But Hiro's so wonderful he didn't ask any questions just hugged me and skipped our trip back to Hokkaido so I could go straight to Tokyo. And he didn't let me back down. He said I had to go back no matter what. So I did. Apparently one month after you left." She finished with a sigh. "And so here we are today." (2)

"Yep."

"So why did you guys come back? I thought you were with your other teams." Kaoru asked them. Tyson had told her about their past teams, the White Tigers and the All Stars and of course she had seen them in action when she had been travelling.

"Oh, right, well…" Ray was cut off.

"HEY KAORU!" Tyson shouted, running up to her, three dripping ice creams in hand. "Me and Hilary got you a Chocolate, Caramel Ribbon, that okay?"

"Ooooo…THANKS TYSON!" She said happily, taking the ice cream out of his hand and licking it enthusiastically. "Mmmm."

Tyson sweat-dropped. Kaoru's slight obsession with ice cream was somewhat disturbing at times.

"Uh…is she alright?" Max asked unsurely.

"She'll be fine." Tyson sighed and laughed.

"RUUUU!" Hilary came barrelling back from the toilet blocks at that moment with one thing on her mind. "What top did you wear!" She spotted Kaoru, who was looking at her blankly, and let out an exited squeal. Kaoru smiled at her and spun around on her toes.

"You like?" she asked the happy girl. Kaoru was wearing a hot pink top with low cut neck and spaghetti straps. Under the bust was an inch thick strap of paler pink, which crossed in the centre to form a thinner band of pink above. The straps were also the lighter pink. She wore three quarter army print pants with folded up cuffs. The cuffs, pockets and belt were all a lighter green. Kaoru had light pink sneakers with blue trim and white tongues. She also wore three bangles on one arm, a pink band on the other and an anklet on one leg.

"Yay! You wore the good one. The white really didn't go." Hilary told the girl critically.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Kaoru said her dismissively, her focus back on her ice cream.

Hilary rounded on the unsuspecting Tyson with sickening sweetness "Tyson…GIVE ME MY ICE CREAM!"

Tyson huffed. "Here." He shoved it back at her and turned to the others. "If you guys want an ice cream there's a kiosk over there. We always come here, they have great stuff." He punctuated the comment by taking a large lick of his blue ice cream.

"Thanks Tyson." Ray spoke and made his way to where Tyson had pointed. Max followed eagerly

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Tyson and gang had made their way to the ever-popular river. All had finished their ice creams save for Ray, who had gotten his last and wasn't quite rude enough to gulp it down the same way Max had.

Now they sat on the embankment. Kaoru and Tyson lay beside one another with Hilary inevitably on Tyson's side. Not that he complained. Max sat a little further down in front of Kaoru, and Ray found himself sprawled out somewhere in the middle.

"So, we still don't know anything about the Tournament, care to fill us in?" Ray began the conversation getting right to the point.

"We don't know anything either," Hilary spoke, "Mr. Dickenson just warned us to start looking for some new members because this Tournament calls for a minimum of four bladers. Though he did say that having even more would be an advantage but I can't see any logic in it."

"That's right, it doesn't make sense, how can more bladers mean an advantage? You can't have two on one battles so its just plain stupid. If we had our four bladers go up against a team of six bladders they'd just have to take off two of their members so it would be fair." Tyson obviously didn't think much of these new rules.

"All the same if Mr. Dickenson said it's an advantage then it is. We should probably try to recruit a few promising bladers." Ray said.

"Yeah, I thought you might say that. Before you came we were planning to have a Mini Tournament to suss out the local talent. What do think?" Hilary asked.

"I'd say it sounds like a plan." Max spoke up for the first time. "But what kind of tournament? We don't have enough money for an all out Blading Bash."

"That's the beauty of it." Kaoru joined the conversation. "It's not big. Tiny in fact. It pits blader against Blade Breaker and you guys are the judge. We've got four people as it is, so just pick four more who impress you and we'll be set."

"So, you want us," Ray indicated himself, Tyson and Max, " to have beybattles with champion wannabe's?"

"Not my exact choice of words but, yeah, pretty much." Kaoru looked at him hopefully.

"I think it sounds really cool." Max said with starry eyes.

"Yeah, I guess. It could work." Ray was still a bit sceptical of the idea. "But how exactly do you plan for us to judge them?"

"Oh, that's easy. We'll have two BladeBreakers up at a time and each of you will face one of the competitors. If they beat you then they're automatically in, if not then it's you who gets to say if they're any good. If you found it hard to beat them or even if their Beyblading style just impressed you. The rest of us will be watching and if they impress both you and us, then they're in. Simple." Hilary rattled off the plan. It was pretty straightforward.

"Okay, I'm in." Max happily agreed.

"Yeah, me too. It could be fun." Ray added.

"Alright then. We have a game plan."

The group sat in silence for a few minutes. Ray finished off his ice cream and stood to throw the napkin in the bin.

"Hey Tyson, wanna battle?" Ray's shadow fell over Tyson as the boy opened his eyes curiously.

"A Beybattle?"

"No Tyson, I meant the kind with robots and light sabres, of course a Beybattle!"

"And what about me?" Max sat up looking pointedly at Ray. "I'm a Beyblader too!"

"Why not have a three way battle? That ought to be fun!" Kaoru spoke up, eager to stop the argument.

"YEAH!" Tyson exclaimed.

"That'd be AWESOME!" Max agreed.

"I bet you won't be saying that when I cream both o' you." Ray smirked.

"I'd like to see you try!"

All three boys raced down the hill to the flat plain of land that joined the river and grabbed their blades.

"Hilary, get down here and do the count down." Tyson ordered.

"You want to try saying 'PLEASE'?"

"Hilary…" Tyson said in a whiney voice and looked to Kaoru. "Kay…?" His voice was now hopeful and questioning.

The girls laughed.

"Come on then." Kaoru started off towards them with Hilary following slowly behind.

"Ok, ready?"

"Yep" came the collective reply.

"3…2…1…LET IT RIP!"

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The dojo was deserted.

"Hmm…they're not here. Then where?"

There was barely even any sign of habitation. Apart from the fact that the fridge was stocked and the drawers in the bedrooms were full of clothes there was no other indication of life in the vast dojo. The Kitchen was clean and the dishes done. The large central room was untouched. No futons or pillows or anything on the floor. Even Tyson's room was tidy. (3)

"Hn."

The guest room was the only thing that looked any different. It too was spotless, but there was a purple suitcase in the corner.

An eyebrow was raised in contemplation of the object. _To open or not to open, that is the question…Open!_

"A Girl? This _is _different! Very different."

The floorboards creaked eerily beneath the weight. Slowly the newcomer made their way to the hall. Next to the door was a message board and on it, conveniently, a note.

"Grandpa,

Gone for Ice-cream, prob back late

See ya then

Ty."

The note had obviously been rushed.

"Great, like I haven't already travelled far enough. Now I've got to find that annoyance. Pft…I bet he planned this. Where would he go? The river or the park. Well at least it's not too far. Then again he never was any good at planning things."

There was a chuckle and the sound of a slamming door.

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"Right, GO DRAGOON!" Tyson exclaimed, calling forth his Bitbeast.

"GO DRIGGER!"

"DRACIEL!"

The three Beasts all emerged from their blades. The Dragon, Tiger and Turtle colliding and grazing against one another as each Blader fought for the upper hand.

Suddenly there was a CRASH and surge of dust as something was hurled into the midst of the battle. Three Beyblades were sent flying out of the cloud and it was all the boys could do to catch them as they coughed and choked on the dust.

"Whoa! What was that?" Asked Kaoru as the dust started to disappear. Tyson coughed.

"Dunno, pretty powerful though."

As the last of the dust vanished the group saw the cause of the upset. In the centre of the battlefield was a tiny crater and in it, still spinning, there was a blue blade.

"No way…" Max began, gaping at the little thing. "It couldn't be."

"Oh, but it is." An equally astonished Ray was now staring at the bridge. The others followed his gaze and Kaoru felt her jaw drop.

"OH MY GOD!" Was all she could manage at this stage.

"But I thought…" Hilary trailed off.

"Kai." Tyson's gaze was fixed on the lone figure standing on the bridge wall.

It was Kai. Two toned hair, white scarf, open black top with a purple one underneath, red belt and purple baggy pants. The same Kai that had left six months ago.

His scarf was blowing in the wind, as he held out his hand in a silent command for his blade to return. It spun for a few moments before speeding back to him. He caught it and jumped, landing in front of the stunned group.

Tyson was the first one to recover his voice.

"You know what? You're Late!"

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So...what do you think. Good, bad?

I know there wasn't much romancy stuff in that chapter, actually there wasn't much of anything, but fear not, the story will get going shortly. This chappie was really just an introduction to the basic tone of the story.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the numbers (eg. (1)) that come after some paragraphs are there because I don't like writing Author Notes in the middle of a chapter. I feel they disrupt the reading (no offence to anyone who does this.) So I have put my Author Notes at the end. They should basically explain anything you didn't understand or anything I wasn't quite sure about.

Here they are...

(1) - Gi - Gi are the kendo outfits that fighters wear. Normally they are worn with a headpiece but not if you're just practicing like Tyson and Kaoru. As for the top half being lighter and the female top bit being nearly white...I have no idea sweatdrop . I just added that because its easier for a reader to visualise things if they're different. At least it seems to work for me... If you know more about Kendo and Gi, or if this is wrong (which is highly likely) then please tell me. Thanks.

(2) - Hokkiado and Kyushu - Hokkiado is the northern most island of Japan and Kyushu is the southern most island. So basically Kaoru and Hiro went up and down and up and down. Oh, and Tokyo is in the middle of the largest island (which I don't know the name of) in case you didn't know. Once again tell me if it's wrong.

(3) - Futons - (We're talking about the Japanese version here by the way.) These are the flimsy mattress things that go on the floor and you sleep on. You see them a lot in Beyblade when the boys are over at Tyson's.

I do accept flames but just be warned if you want to send one, I'm not a person who takes offence very easily; I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you flame me don't expect me to stop writing, I won't. So there really isn't very much point.

Reviews, however, I would LOVE! I may not take offence but I love compliments! (Who doesn't! ) Plus, creative criticism and whatnot would be greatly appreciated.

So now I'll leave you to press that little blue button and...R&R!

Soi.


	2. The Planning Of A Mini Tournament

I'm baaaacccccckkkkk! Be afraid…be very afraid…Haha, no seriously, sorry it took so long! But when I first typed this chapter a while ago it just didn't turn out the way I wanted it to so I had to do some serious editing! But I got there!

All right, just before I start chapter two there are a few things I have to address.

#1 **THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH!** to everyone who reviewed! You made me so happy!

#2 **A SUPER HUMUNGO THANK YOU** to Diamond Core for the most wonderful review imaginable. (Seriously, if you don't believe me go look). That was way beyond what I deserved, you had me stuck to the ceiling for hours! This chappie is for you DC. Thanks again.

#3 **A NOTE OF RECOMMENDATION.** To any and everyone reading this, if you're into KaiOC fics then you have to check out AngelOfDarkness83's "Dance Like No One's Watching" which is absolutely **amazing!** Don't forget to drop her a review

Now, on with the fic!

* * *

**The Planning of a Mini Tournament…**

Kaoru stood in complete disbelief. It was Kai Hiwatari, _the_ Kai Hiwatari standing six feet away from her. Somehow, she hadn't been quite ready for that. Alright, she thought to herself, deep breaths…

"You know what? You're late!" it was Tyson who spoke and she, along with the rest of the team and Kai face-faulted.

"OH REALLY! I'M SO SORRY THAT MY 12-HOUR FLIGHT FROM RUSSIA RAN LATE. OH YEAH, AND I'M SO SORRY THAT I HAD TO COME HERE TO FIND YOU AFTER BEING AWAKE FOR 32 HOURS!" Kai shouted.

"Well, that's alright then." Tyson told him, nodding. Kai growled.

Kaoru watched Kai smoulder, a vein popping in his head. He still looked good. No she wasn't a fan girl but she did think fairly high of him. Especially his Beyblading skills. Although Tyson had beaten him some 4 times, Tyson's techniques did little to impress her. His attacks were relentless, rough and unthought out. However, what Kaoru admired about Kai was that every attack, ever move, everything that he did, in battle and out, was very precise. He did nothing without thinking it through and all of it had a purpose.

The rest of the team had already begun to greet Kai with various 'Good to see ya buddy's and 'We didn't think you were going to come's and from Hilary a simple 'How are you, Kai?' Kai barely answered them except to tell Hilary he was 'Fine'. To the rest he just 'Hn'ed. But as his friends crowded him with stupid questions Kaoru could see just the traces of a smile on his face and she knew he had missed them. Kaoru had to smile too and it was then that Kai looked her way.

"Kai, what did you do in Russia?" Hilary asked. Kai said nothing and it was then the team realised his focus was elsewhere. Kaoru looked almost shy, her hands clasped in front of her and her mouth a little open in surprise. Kai raised an eyebrow.

Hilary was first to react. She raced to Kaoru and grabbed the girls' hand dragging her towards Kai.

"H-Hilary!" Kaoru tried to protest but Hilary's grip was strong.

"Come on Ru, come meet Kai!" she insisted excitedly taking the girl by the shoulders and literally shoving her into Kai.

"Um, s-sorry." Kaoru found herself stuttering as she pulled herself off Kai.

"Hn," He said quietly "S'okay". She looked up and met his gaze again. Hilary wedged herself in the middle.

"Kai, this is Tyson's best friend, Kaoru! Kaoru you know Kai, right?"

"Right." Wow, he's…tall. She thought. In fact, Kai was about three maybe four inches taller than her. The fan girls had said he was about 5'6" which was how tall she was now. Hmm, he must have grown. She thought and smiled.

This is Tyson's best friend? I thought he hated girls. She's…pretty. Pft, probably just a fan girl anyway.

"Nice to meet you." She told him happily and held out her hand for him to take.

"Uh-huh." Kai replied, still lost in thought, and took it. There was a quiet gasp from the group.

All of a sudden Kai was aware that her hand was in his and immediately a hundred alarms went off in his head. Drop it, he urged himself silently, just drop it. He wrenched his hand from her grasp and held it protectively to his chest.

What am I doing? Kai Hiwatari does not shake hands with anyone. He thought angrily. I have to pay more attention; I'm becoming too soft around them. He shot a glance at his wide-eyed friends. I can't let my guard down, especially if there's a new girl. She must…

Gentle laughter met his ears. Kai broke free from his thoughts and looked at Kaoru. A hand sporting two bracelets covered her laughing mouth and the bracelets jangled happily as her body shook with humour.

"You should see your face Kai!" she laughed. "You'd think I had an electric buzzer on my hand or something!"

The others began to laugh too.

Kai looked on angrily. A vein popped on his head and a harsh pink blush coloured the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

Kai straightened up, nose in the air.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kai. But it really was funny." Kaoru said, recovering in time to see Kai's less than happy demeanour.

"Hn. I'm sure." Kai turned, walking back the same way he had come.

"Not such a great first impression huh?" Kaoru asked, watching him go. Tyson came up behind her and patted her comically on the back.

"It was fine. I think he likes you." He commented, giving her one of his winning smiles.

"That's right, he didn't even speak to me when I first met him." Said Hilary, smiling.

"And he actually shook your hand!" Max said in an almost congratulatory way.

"He really is as cold as everyone says, huh?" She muttered to herself as they began walking after Kai.

* * *

"MA LIL' HOMIES! YA'R ALL BACK!" Grandpa had Max, Ray and Kai in one giant headlock and was swinging them from side to side, great tears rolling down his tired old cheeks. Hilary and Kaoru were laughing and Tyson was desperately trying to free his friends from the clutches of the emotional grandpa.

"Grandp-pa," Kaoru managed through her laughter, "y-you'd better l-let them go, th-they'll suffocate!"

Grandpa did as she asked and dramatically wiped tears from his eyes. Ray and Max fell to the floor gasping for air as Kai struggled to regain his composure.

"You dogs back to join the BB's?" asked a hopeful grandpa.

"The what's?"

"BladeBreakers." Supplied Tyson.

"Yep, um…at least I think. Kai, are you joining?" Max spoke up.

"Hn." Said Kai with a nod.

"WHOA! REALLY? WHY?" Tyson was ecstatic. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like me…not to?"

"NO, I MEAN YES, I MEAN…PLEASE JOIN!"

"He means, why aren't you with the Demolition Boys? I though you wanted to beat Tyson." Ray told them, clarifying the situation.

"I do, and I will." At this Tyson huffed angrily, "But I also want to be champion, and to do that I need a team that can win the championships." Kai stated obviously.

"Right."

"So you are joining?" Tyson asked.

"Hn."

"HA! That means we have five Bladers! We only need three more!" Tyson punched the air triumphantly.

"What do you mean three more?" asked Kai, and Kaoru sighed.

"Can we please talk about this after dinner?" she whined.

"Ha. Imagine that." Hilary said, surprised. "It wasn't Tyson who brought up dinner. Amazing."

-----

"Mmmm…this is delicious Ray!" Complemented Tyson. "It's been so long since I've had a good dinner."

The BladeBreakers sat around a table pilled high with grilled fish, bowls of Ramen noodles, chow mein and many other odd delicacies.

"Doesn't grandpa cook?" asked Max.

"Well, yeah, but if grandpa cooks then we eat really late cause he won't cook anything that's not 'Hip'."

"What about Hilary?" Ray raised an eyebrow at Tyson, knowing the boy would have to complement her cooking if he wanted to live another day.

"Yeah, Hill's not a bad cook, but it's still nothing compared to yours Ray!"

"Mmm, I agree!" said Hilary enthusiastically.

"Well can't Kaoru cook?"

There was silence.

Suddenly Tyson choked on his food, hastily swallowing it before bursting into hilarious laughter. Hilary did the same, clutching at her stomach. The others, minus Kaoru, just stared at the two as if they were crazy. It had been a mere question but by the way they where acting it would seem that they had just been told the most wonderful joke in the world.

Kaoru hung her head slightly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Uh…I'm not really a very good cook." She told them sincerely.

"Oh man," Tyson wiped the tears from his eyes, "Now that has got to be the understatement of the century!"

"Fine then, I CAN'T cook, at all! I'm hopeless, horrible, and tragic far beyond belief. I BURN cereal!" she stated but there was a smile playing on her lips that reassured the boys that this did not upset her in any way.

"Yep, that's more like it." Hilary said knowingly.

Over dinner they told Kai what they knew about the tournament and further discussed the idea of a Mini Tournament. When money came up Kai said, in a case of worse come to worse he would _'lend'_ them enough to set up a _'decent'_ Tournament.

Presently the dinner was finished, with many compliments to the chef, and discussion began again, though this time Tyson could input seeing as he wasn't stuffing his face.

"Alright, in that case I'll get Kenny to organise us a meeting with Mr.D so we can tell him the plan. Cool?" Tyson asked, standing up from the table.

"Cool!" replied everyone with, of course, the exception of Kai who chose instead to say…

"Hn"

"Which brings us to our second point of business." Said Tyson formally. "Kai," he turned to regard the boy, "I believe you owe me a re-match!"

Kai smiled but shook his head. "No thanks."

"WHAT! But last time you were here the only thing you wanted to do was beat me and now that I'm giving you a chance you don't want it?"

"Unless memory fails me, I just knocked yours, Ray's and Max's blades out all by myself, which, in case you're having trouble doing the maths, means I am more than a match for just one of you."

"Say what?" Tyson was starting to get angry.

"I'll tell you what Tyson, you train hard all week and I'll face you at the end."

"TRAINING! But you've only just got back, we don't even have a full team yet and just what makes you think you're automatically captain again?" exclaimed Tyson.

Kai growled, "And who else were you expecting to be captain!" He asked angrily and turned, storming out of the room. Kaoru stood and followed, there was something she needed to do.

"Your Bitbeast…" Kai turned. Kaoru stood just behind him. Her eyes were shining gently in the over-head light and she had a strange look on her face. "Dranzer, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah? So what?"

"May I see her?" _HER?_

How…how could she have known that Dranzer was female? Kai had never told anyone. Not even his grandfather.

"Her?" Tyson echoed his thoughts and Kai noticed that he and the rest of the BladeBreakers stood in the doorway behind Kaoru, watching the proceedings. When Kaoru didn't answer he asked Kai, "Is she right? Is Dranzer a 'her'?"

Kai nodded. "Why do you want to see Dranzer?" he asked Kaoru.

Kaoru didn't reply for a minute. It's better not to tell him, she decided.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt her." She muttered, decided on a compromise.

"Ru, I don't think Kai is just going to give you Dranzer." Hilary cut in. "I've been on this team for three years and I still haven't even been close enough to see it's…_her_ bit chip."

Kai ignored her. "I said 'Why do you want to see her?'"

"I…" Kaoru sighed, he wasn't going to give her Dranzer unless she told him. "I just want to talk to her. Please, I promise I won't hurt her. I swear."

"Talk to her?" echoed all but Tyson and Hilary.

"How can you talk to her?" asked Kai his tone rising a few decibels in frustration. "It's impossible for anyone but the Bit beast's master to talk to it!"

"Not for Kay! She talks to Dragoon all the time! They get along heaps too." Tyson was quick to clarify.

"There's no way!" Ray stated surely.

"That's right, it's not possible!" Max said, agreeing.

"Well, she can, so believe it!" Hilary told them defensively.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. Please Kai, just let me see her. I'll stand right here, you can keep an eye on me to make sure I don't run off. I'll only be a second. Just please trust me."

Kai was about to shoot her down when instead he was caught by her eyes. He hadn't noticed them before. There was no hidden agenda to them, no reason for betrayal. He found, to his surprise, that he did trust her. Her eyes were sincere, understanding, and hopeful. He could see a rare admiration shining within their silver, blue depths and something almost…sad.

Slowly, without taking his eyes off hers, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a blue and red blade. He reached forward to her outstretched hand and softly placed Dranzer there. There was no 'gasp' from their audience, just a fascinated silence.

"You trust me?" Kaoru asked hopefully.

He did, but did she need to know that?

"Hn. I'm still going to stay here and watch." He turned, walking to the opposite wall and leaning on it comfortably.

Kaoru smiled. "Okay!"

"Can we watch too?" asked Max.

Kaoru nodded. She looked down to the blade and lightly ran her thumb over the bitchip. "She's very beautiful." Kaoru said, not averting her eyes from the beast. A red light shone from underneath her thumb and suddenly the world around her had vanished.

"Dranzer?"

Kaoru stood, surrounded by a white expanse. This was the domain of a Bitbeast; it was nothing new to her. The difference was, the Bitbeast was nowhere to be seen.

"Who are you?" a voice echoed around the space.

"My name is Kaoru Kumori." Kaoru replied knowing that, when talking to a Bitbeast, it was best to be as to-the-point as possible.

"I see. How did you come to posses my blade?"

"I was given it."

"By Kai?"

"Yes."

The bird now appeared above her. It shot Kaoru a fiery glare, obviously disbelieving. Kaoru waited patiently for the next question.

"Why?"

"He trusts me."

"How?"

"Because he has no reason not to."

Dranzer let herself fall gently to the ground.

"Kai trusts no one," it told her.

"He trusts me." She repeated. True, he had not told her in so many words, but she could tell. He had looked into her eyes with amusement at first, believing it humorous for her to even ask to see his Dranzer. But he had seen something there, a sincerity and innocence that told him she meant no harm. And so he had trusted her, and she knew he had.

The Bitbeast looked at her long and hard. Its eyes darted about her body, sizing her up and taking in any information it could get without breaking the fragile silence.

"How are you able to talk to me?" Dranzer's fiery eyes were now trained solely on Kaoru's face, watching for any sign of a lie.

"I can talk to all Bitbeasts."

"All?"

"Yes."

And as if that had answered all questions, the great bird's eyes, which had been clouded with confusion and anger, were cleared. Its great wings folded behind it and its claws retracted a bit. The fire that had consumed it began to die down and it looked at her with an immense understanding.

"Of course you can. And you have before, am I right?" Kaoru nodded. "Yes, that makes a lot more sense. The first time I spoke to Kai he was overflowing with questions even with his usually calm demeanour. But you, you speak of nothing irrelevant. Young one, you have a wisdom beyond your years."

Kaoru smiled. "Thank you."

"Kaoru Kumori was it? A pretty name. How long have you known Kai, how do you know him?"

"Oh, I've only known him a few hours. I'm a friend of Tyson's."

"Ah, Dragoons Master."

If Dranzer was surprised then she didn't show it. Instead she nodded and squinted her eyes at Kaoru as if searching for something.

"There is a peculiar aura surrounding you young one." The bird squinted harder. "It radiates off you. An energy, a power the likes I've never seen. What is it?"

Kaoru shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I meant, are you sure you're not lying." Dranzer eyed her suspiciously.

"What reason would I have to lie?" Asked Kaoru.

"Indeed." Dranzer now regarded her with something similar to amusement and Kaoru had a feeling that the 'Indeed' had actually been a question, something like 'Indeed, what reasons _do _you have?'

"If Kai asks you what we talked about, you'll tell him. Even if you promise me you won't. So I can't tell you anything I wouldn't…want him to hear."

Dranzer smiled knowingly. "As I said, wise beyond your years."

"Kaoru." The call echoed through out the white expanse.

"Yes?" Kaoru turned to the great bird in front of her. Dranzer shook her head.

"It was not I child."

"Kaoru!"

"Your friends beckon your return to their world. It's time to leave."

"KAORU!"

The girl winced. "That'll be Tyson", she confirmed.

"You have been a joy to talk to, young one. I rarely have such interesting conversations with Kai."

Kaoru smiled. "We'll talk again?" she asked.

"Yes." Dranzer agreed as another call rang out around them. "I am sure we will speak again." And with that the great bird disappeared.

Kaoru shook her head exasperatedly. "Good bye to you too." She closed her eyes and concentrated on returning to her own world as one final call rang out, though this time it seemed a lot closer.

Kaoru let her eyes flutter open. In front of her face was a pair of chocolate brown eyes blinking curiously at her.

"Tyson?" she asked. Realising she had returned to her own world she immediately sat up, bumping straight into the boy's forehead.

"OW! Kaoru!" Tyson complained, sitting back and rubbing his head.

"Sorry!" she apologised.

"S'okay," Tyson mumbled, getting up and heading to the door, "time for bed, come on." Kaoru blinked at him, confused.

"Bed?" she echoed.

"Yeah! You've been just sitting there for two hours, what on earth did you talk about?" asked Max.

"Two hours?" Then it dawned on her. Two minutes in the realm of a BitBeast was like two hours in this world. She always seemed to forget that, no matter how many times she talked to Dragoon and other beasts. "OH! No, I was only there for about two minutes! But two minutes is about two hours in this world! I completely forgot! Sorry!"

"Right…" Ray drawled, trying to make some sense of what the girl was saying. "So, you've only been in there two minutes?"

"Yup!" Kaoru stood and walked over to Kai. "Thanks for letting me talk to her."

"Hn." said Kai and took his blade back from her.

"KAORU! Come on! Didn't you hear Kai? We have training tomorrow. Which means he's gonna wake us up a 7:00 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!" Tyson stood at the doorway beckoning them into the big room.

"Tyson, 7:00 isn't that early you know." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"IT IS ON A SUNDAY!"

Kaoru sighed "Sure, whatever." She muttered, watching the boy bound back into the big room to don his pyjamas. "Hopeless." She shook her head as Hilary came to stand beside her.

"Utterly Hopeless" agreed the other girl as she and Kaoru headed off after Tyson and the other BladeBreakers.

Tyson emerged from his bedroom in red Beyblade print Pyjamas. He walked to a small closet in the side wall and took out two futons. "You wanna sleep in here with us Kay?"

Kaoru shrugged, "Sure."

"Ru, can I borrow some pyjamas?" asked Hilary looking down at her tight and chained attire.

Kaoru laughed. "Sure, though I reckon it would be pretty funny to see you try and sleep in that."

Hilary stuck her tongue out at the other girl and followed her to her bedroom.

"Kai can you grab two futons, please." Tyson asked, setting his two out on the ground. "You too Ray."

Suddenly a piercing scream sounded from the Kaoru's bedroom.

"KAORU!" Hilary yelled from within.

Kaoru emerged from the room doubled over laughing and crying.

"Kaoru, I am NOT wearing this." Hilary told her, still not coming out from the room.

"Fine, if you want to sleep naked in a room full of boys then don't let me be the one to stop you." Kaoru was wearing a pair of violet pyjama pants with white heart print, and a black top which read 'I WUV U!' in bold violet writing.

"I may as well be naked for as much of me is covered by this…can it even be called a nightie?"

"No, probably not." Kaoru admitted.

"Ru, why do you even own something so…what's the right word…prostitute-ish?"

"I dunno, its cute." Kaoru smiled. "I'm sure Tyson will think so too." She added and Tyson gave her a dirty look.

"Like I care what Tyson thinks."

Kaoru sighed. "Sure, o' course you don't." She shook her head exasperatedly.

Hilary slowly opened the bedroom door, emerging, as she had so correctly joked, half naked. Every mouth in the room, save for Kaoru's, dropped at the sight of her.

"Do you have to stare?" asked Hilary, tugging uncomfortably at the hem of her 'nightie'.

"Whoa…" Ray managed.

"Double whoa!" agreed Max, wiping a little drool from his chin.

"Told you they'd think it was cute." Kaoru said with a sly smile.

"WHOA! HILARY! You have BOOBS!" Tyson stated and Hilary went bright red. She stormed up to Tyson and hit him over the back of the head.

"THANK YOU FOR THE ANALYSIS, EINSTEIN!" she barked.

The 'nightie' was black silk and was laced with red fluff. The bottom half was like a skirt and reached just above her mid thigh. The top half was like a pair of triangle bikinis except much tighter judging by the way they creased horizontally and pushed her boobs together making them appear quite a bit bigger. The entire mid section was made in see-through black silk and was split down the middle and held together by a cross hatched ribbon.

Hilary realised a little too late that she had just smacked Tyson's head in the direction of her newly discovered chest. She felt a little moisture drip there and turned red again.

"PERVERT!" she screamed and ran over to the Futon Kai was putting down and jumped in.

Kai just raised an eyebrow. He walked over to Tyson's bedroom and disappeared, closing the door behind himself.

"Come on," Ray beckoned for max to follow after Kai, "let's get changed and go to bed, it'll be a long day tomorrow." Max nodded.

-----

Kai lay awake long into the night. Tyson was snoring loudly and mumbling various embarrassing things. Kai made sure to keep a mental tab of all of the Hilary based mumbles knowing that even a threat of revealing such information would immediately see to Tyson's lack of enthusiasm towards training.

"Mmmm…Hilary…so pretty…" Tyson drawled.

Kai snickered. Although he would never admit it, Kai had missed his team. Even Tyson and his loud sleeping habits.

Ray was still in his sleep, occasionally uttering small crys that sounded suspiciously like cat mews. Max, however, twisted and turned in his sleep but unlike the daylight hours he was silent. Hilary only moved or spoke to hit Tyson or to mumble to him to keep quiet and Kaoru, in contrast to the others, was both silent and still, breathing softly and soundly, apparently completely at peace in this strange sleeping environment.

'Dranzer', thought Kai to his Bitbeast, 'did you really talk to her?'

_Yes, we talked. _Answered the beast.

'About what?' Kai asked.

_She said you trusted her. Do you?_

Silence.

_I see. She also said that she could talk to all Bitbeasts. And that she had done so before._

'Yes, Tyson said she talked to Dragoon.'

_Mmm, she met you through Dragoon's Master so that makes sense. She is very wise. Kai, does anything about her seem…odd…to you?_

'Odd? In what way do you mean odd, Dranzer?'

The Bitbeast thought for a moment. _I sensed a strange aura surrounding her._

'A strange Aura? Like what? A power?'

_Something like that. I asked her about it but she denied its existence. I'm not sure why._

'She may not know about it, Dranzer.'

_She knows of it. But she refused to tell me, I'm sure she hasn't told anyone else either._

'Are you sure? I don't think she would keep anything from Tyson. They seem really close.'

_Even married couples keep secrets Kai._

'You think it's that serious?'

_Who knows._

'Dranzer, is it possible you just misinterpreted it? Maybe you're wrong.'

_I'm never wrong Kai. I could read her eyes as clear as a book. She was lying when she said she didn't know. I could see it._

'She's right,' thought Kai, 'Kaoru's eyes are so bright and blue, and you can see all the emotion in them. So is it possible to see lies too?'

_It is, Kai,_ Dranzer answered, having listened to his thoughts, _and her eyes were purple._

'Purple? Don't be stupid Dranzer, they're blue, I know they are. And don't listen to my thoughts.'

_My apologies Master Kai. And I'm sorry but they _were_ purple._

'They can't be! Come on Dranzer, the one time I notice the colour of a girl's eyes and you mean to tell me that I was wrong?'

_I'm sorry Kai._

The boy sighed. 'Maybe you're right, I'm just tired. I think I'll go to sleep now, I can worry about Kaoru's eyes tomorrow.'

_Very well, goodnight master Kai._

'Good night Dranzer.'

Kai felt the great bird leave the chambers of his mind. He sighed contentedly; the room for once was silent. Ray was in-between mews and Max had found a comfortable spot. Tyson had shifted so that his mouth was stuffed with pillow and so Hilary had no one to yell at. The only noise in the room came from the girl in front of him. A low regular breathing that was almost intoxicating to the already sleepy boy.

Kai turned so that his head was resting on his arms and he was staring at Kaoru. Things would change now that she was here. Somehow Kai knew that. What would change and how he didn't have a clue, but they would, and for the better, he hoped.

Kai turned to face the wall and let his mind drift into other matters After the Mini Tournament; who would be on their team? Kai didn't want to know, he liked it the way it was.

Slowly he felt sleep pulling at him and let it, a small smile tugging at his lips. It was good to be back.

* * *

Kaoru awoke when the early morning light was just beginning to shine in from underneath the Shoji door. She yawned. (1)

_What on earth is the time?_ She stood and walked to her room where she knew there was a clock._ 6:00? Damn, I wanted to sleep longer than that…_Kaoru sighed.

She looked to the window and smiled to find a bright sunny day awaiting her outside.

Kaoru stripped off her pyjama top and instead donned a light pink bra and a yellow top with sleeves that came just below her shoulders. She dropped her pyjama pants and replaced them with a dark blue skirt. It was pleated and had three chains, which met on the side and were covered by a big dark pink bow. A single chain hung down from the bow. She bent back to her suitcase and picked up a sky blue denim jacket, the base of each sleeve scattered haphazardly with sparkles.

"Huh, only ten past six. Kai said training was at 7:00. Fifty minutes." Kaoru did the maths out loud. "Well, I'm not waiting for that long! Maybe I could go run a few laps now, then Kai might let me do less later." She nodded happily and made her way to the front door. Her hand paused on the frame.

Kaoru turned, it was oddly silent, she noticed all of a sudden. She walked back into the big room. Tyson's face was buried in a pillow and Hilary's hand on his head was keeping it there. Max was twisted impossibly in the blankets, face up and mouth open, he wasn't moving and something told Kaoru that that wasn't because he was comfortable. Ray was chewing on the corner of his blanket and Kai was as silent and as still as ever.

It was then, for the first time that Kaoru noticed Kai was smiling. It was only small, a ghost of a smile really, but it was there. It made her smile too. She wondered what he was dreaming about.

"You know you really should smile more often Kai-kun." (2)

* * *

Kai awoke when the early morning sun was shining strongly from underneath the Shoji door. He sat up. The first thing he noticed was Kaoru was gone. He shrugged, it's not like it matters, he thought, she'll be back.

Kai walked to Tyson's room and shrugged on his usual attire. Comfortable for running, blading, even sleeping.

Taking a quick look at his team, he smiled before heading out the front door and to the park.

Kai sighed, there was another runner out there. He hated running in company, especially if he couldn't jog beside said company and egg them on with insults about their speed. Wait…was that a girl running out there? At this hour?

It was a girl. No, it was THAT girl. _Kaoru…_

And she was running in a skirt? Kai raised an eyebrow. _Okay…Tyson's best friend, a girl, is running, at 6:30 am, in a skirt. Huh._

Kaoru rounded a turn and found herself facing the emotionless figure of Kai Hiwatari. She stopped.

"Hey!" she called out happily, raising her hand in a friendly wave.

Kai began to walk the distance between them. He wasn't the type to yell out across the entire park, even though there was no one there.

"What are you doing." He asked when he reached her.

"Jogging." She smiled

"Hn. Why."

"Figured I'd get a jump start on the competition."

"What competition?"

"Silly. It was a joke. I'm jogging so I'll be able to do less later, when we train."

"You're not training with us."

"You can't stop me." She smirked.

"You're not on the team."

"Do I look like I care?"

"Hn, you're wearing a skirt."

"So? I like running in a skirt, you know what they say: don't knock it 'till you've tried it. It's fresh and flexible."

"Still weird."

"Whatever, I'm off to get some breaky, you coming?"

"Hn." He said, walking in the other direction and running as he got further away.

"Fine then. Mr. Sourpuss." She stuck out her tongue in his direction and began on her way to a little diner that opened at 6:30. _Mmmm…Breakfast. God, I sound like Tyson._

* * *

Kaoru entered the dojo to find a sleeping Tyson, an exasperated Ray, an exhausted Max, an angry Hilary and a twice as angry Kai.

"I'm guessing I missed something?" Kaoru interrupted and all faces turned her way.

"Tyson called Kenny last night when you were talking with Dranzer," it was Ray who spoke, "He organised a conference with Mr.Dickenson but only just called to tell us the time."

"It's in half an hour," Max put in, "So Kai's angry 'cause we can't train now, and we can't get Tyson up either, we've been trying for ages."

Kaoru smiled, getting Tyson up wouldn't be a problem, she had experience.

"Alright then, lets see." She pondered for a minute. Walking over to stand above Tyson she looked towards Hilary and then Kai. "You mind if I give it a try?"

"Shoot." Hilary replied.

Kaoru squatted down to survey Tyson. How shall I wake him up today? She wondered.

She straddled him. The BladeBreakers eyes when wide as Kaoru bent towards Tyson, but instead of kissing him Kaoru turned her head and set it beside Tyson's so that her nose was buried in his hair and lips were parted beside his ear.

"Tyson…" she whispered, doing her best Hilary impression, "Tyson, it's Hilary." Kaoru cleverly concealed her voice so only Tyson could hear. "You look so hot right now, did you know that. I just wanna kiss you" She pressed her lips gently against Tyson's cheek and sat back.

"Kaoru…" hissed Hilary.

"Shhh, just wait." And in that moment Tyson's body caught up to his brain and his eyes shot wide open. He blushed beet red and sat straight up. "Good morning Tyson dearest, did you have a good sleep?" Kaoru smiled coyly.

"Bu…wha…where? I thought…" Kaoru burst out laughing, "KAORU! That was evil!" He yelled going even redder.

"Awww…I'm sorry Tyson, here I'll kiss it better. Or instead of me how about Hil – Mmnf!" Tyson clamped a hand over her mouth.

"You will speak of this to no one understand?"

"Mhmmbmayswnwa." She nodded whilst trying to tell him through his hand that the others had seen it anyway.

"Umm…care to explain that?" asked Ray leaning in around Kaoru. Tyson's eyes went wide.

"YOU DIDN'T!" he asked using a surprisingly Kai-like glare on Kaoru.

"Hehe…didn't what?" she asked nervously.

"You didn't just…and in front of them…and…oh god…" Tyson buried his head in his hands desperately. Kaoru laughed

"C-calm down Ty," she said, "I was whispering, they didn't hear."

"Oh."

"Get dressed Tyson. We're meeting Mr. Dickenson"

"Really."

"Yes really," Kai said angrily, "and you had better hope we're not late."

Tyson scrambled up. He had learned, after many years of knowing Kai that a threat like that actually meant: "Under penalty of _double_ training!" And Tyson had no wish to voke that wrath.

* * *

"Gah! Where is he!" Asked Tyson for what was probably the fifth or sixth time in the last two minutes. They had only been waiting about fifteen minutes, twenty at the most, but the champ was getting increasingly impatient.

Kai leaned against the wall quietly pondering the wasted training time and Hilary, who sat in a meditation pose, was mumbling things along the lines of "Will maintain sanity," and "Will no kill Tyson."

"WHERE IS HE?" Kaoru wished Hilary would though.

"Calm down Tyson." She said quietly. The boy sat down gently on the ground. He loved and respected Kaoru greatly and if he was annoying her, he would stop.

Kai looked over towards Kaoru. How does she control him, Kai wondered, maybe she knows something we don't, or she's just very wise Kai almost laughed at his own joke when he suddenly remembered hearing something similar before. That's right; Dranzer said she was wise too and that her eyes were purple. But they're not, they're blue…I think.

Kai squinted. Yes, her eyes were blue. Silvery blue.

"Err...Kai? Is, um, something the matter?" Kaoru asked awkwardly. The captain was staring at her openly and it was making Kaoru uncomfortable.

Great, thought Kai, realising the rest of the team was now paying attention too, how do I get out of this. "Your eyes are weird." Ah, insults, was there ever a greater use for the spoken word?

"BOYS…and…girls?" Mr.Dickenson appeared just as Tyson prepared to throw a punch at Kai's face.

Hilary put a hand on Tyson's outstretched arm and Tyson withdrew his fist. "Don't insult my sister." Said Tyson venomously and disappeared into the room behind Mr. Dickenson. Kaoru blushed and bowed to Kai in apology.

"It's alright, really."

"Everything alright here?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"Yep." Said Hilary cheerily as the others trooped into the room. "Everything's just fine." She came up next to Kaoru and led her to Mr. Dickenson. "This is Kaoru."

The girl bowed slightly and the old man laughed.

"Now, now, no need for such formalities here lass. I'm Mr.Dickenson but Mr.D is fine." He smiled making the wrinkles on his forehead crease. Kaoru liked the man instantly.

"Nice to meet you Mr.D! I'm an old friend of Tyson's and I'm sorry I haven't met you before but I'll be travelling with the BladeBreakers for a while so I'm sure we'll see more of each other." Kaoru told him, happy as ever.

Mr.Dickenson laughed. "Well I must say I'm glad to hear that. It'll do these boys some good to have another girl around here to keep them in line don't you think boys?" Various mumbles were heard from the other room.

"You can count on me." She laughed.

"Now what's all this then," asked Mr.Dickenson coming to stand in front of the Bladers, "You're all back together I see."

"You bet!" Said Max excitedly. "We only need three more bladers and then we'll have eight."

"Hmm, so I see, but I'm sure that wasn't the only thing you wanted to tell me today."

Ray smiled, typical Mr.Dickenson heading straight for the point.

"We need to recruit new bladers so we were planning on having a Mini Tournament" he said.

"And I suppose you're expecting the BBA to fund this little tournament then?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"Um…well, we were kinda, sorta hoping." Hilary admitted. Mr.Dickenson looked alternately from one blader to the other, his eyes rested on Kai. The boy raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Is there a problem?' Mr.Dickenson smiled, he was glad Kai had returned, this would be the hardest tournament ever and they would need a strong captain.

"Of course the BBA would be happy to fund your tournament, in fact, you just leave it to me. There are many fans out there who will be thrilled to hear that the BladeBreakers are back together and many bladers who would give almost anything to be a part of you. Yes," Mr.Dickenson sat forward in his chair and laid his chin on his interlocked fingers, "I'm sure this little tournament will produce some very good publicity. You boys," Kaoru and Hilary 'Ahem'ed "and girls just figure out the plan and the rules and I'll set up everything, arena, commentators, advertisement, you name it!"

"What do you mean the Plan and the Rules, Mr.D?" asked Tyson.

"Just how you want the Tournament to run, doubles or singles matches, how many battles at one time, Bitbeasts or no Bitbeasts, age limit, I'm guessing you don't want five year olds on your team?"

"No, not really," Ray nodded, "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that Ray?" asked Mr.Dickenson.

"About the new Tournament, there are all these rumours floating around and no one really knows which is true, like are we really not going to be able to use Bitbeasts?"

Mr.Dickenson laughed. "I honestly don't know where that one came from. Bitbeasts_ will_ be allowed. But I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than that. You see we're meant to be keeping our bladers and our Audience in suspense. Basically the BBA found that the old tournaments weren't sufficient in crowning a champion and,"

"Wait! Are you saying I don't deserve to be Champion?" Tyson interrupted angrily.

"No Tyson, not at all, the BBA just developed a new way for you to prove yourself. You see, all the old tournaments take is strength and a good all-round blade, therefore all the old tournaments produced was the Strongest blader with the best blade. Through this Tournament we hope to find the Best All 'round Blader. That might be you Tyson, and I'm not saying it isn't, but I am giving you a chance to prove it. Win this Tournament."

"You bet I will Mr.D." said Tyson happily, "Then lemme see 'em try to tell me I'm not the rightful World Champion." Tyson nodded and proceeded to stand and walk out of the room.

Mr.Dickenson sighed and turned back to the others. "So," he began, "how do you think Tyson will do? Keep in mind that this tournament will be harder than any other."

"He'll do fine," Max said "Tyson may be cocky but he's a great blader and he always seems to make it to the top, even when he's faced with the most unbelievable odds."

Mr.Dickenson nodded. "I hope you're right Max. You'll be going for World Champ as well, right Kai?"

The slate haired teen nodded and then followed Tyson out of the room. "Well then," said Mr.Dickenson turning back to the remaining teens, "Come up with a plan for this Tournament and then send it to me, Kenny has my direct E-mail address, and good luck in with finding your new Bladers."

"Thanks Mr.D." Said Hilary, standing to leave. The others stood also and said their goodbyes before heading out to find the two BladeBreaker runaways.

* * *

The group were discussing The Mini Tournament whilst eating dinner much later that day.

"Tyson," growled Hilary angrily, "Would you please try to eat a little slower! Not only are you making me lose my appetite but you're going to choke!"

"Nonsense Hilary! I'll be fi-ack…"and with that Tyson face went red and he began to choke. Hilary sighed, it was not the first time this had happened, she began to hit Tyson lightly on the back until he managed to swallow the whole dumpling that he had been attempting to eat. "See? Just like I was saying: I'm fine!"

Hilary shook her head exasperatedly. "Right."

The team continued to eat undisturbed until finally Kai stood and coughed to get the attention of his team.

"Tyson…stop eating." Kai said angrily and when the boy complied he turned to the rest of the team to say his piece. "Alright, I'm going to go and e-mail the plan to Kenny so just let me make sure we're all on the same page." Everyone nodded.

"Firstly the rules: Bitbeast are allowed and the age limit is Ten and above." Nods. "There will probably be a lot of people trying out so we'll have to divide them into separate days. It will depend on how many show up - not many then we'll do them all on the first day, otherwise we'll divide them alphabetically, halves, thirds or quarters, depending." Nods. "Right," Kai took a breath and continued, "There will be two BladeBreakers up at once, each battling against _one_ of the participants. Which means no double or tab-team matches." Nods.

"Ray and Max will be up first and then Tyson and I will take the rest of the day. If we have to have two days then we'll switch." Nods. "Who eventually makes it onto the team is up to us to decide, based on how well they battled." Nods. "Good. I'll go tell Kenny, oh, and Daichi's still training in the Mountains right?"

"Actually," Tyson replied sheepishly, "I got a call from him saying he wasn't joining the BladeBreakers…"

"WHAT?"

"Great, now we have even less people." Kai muttered darkly and walked out of the room to find a computer. The rest of the group stayed behind to talk.

-----

Kai sat at the computer situated in Kaoru's room, the one he had previously taken for the guest room. He was almost finished the e-mail to Kenny when he heard the door open and turned to see who it was.

Kaoru stood there blinking at him.

"Hey Kai." She said and smiled as she walked into the room.

"Hn." He said.

Kaoru laughed a little. "You have a pretty big vocabulary don't you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." He told her coldly.

"Take a chill pill sunshine, I was just joking."

Kaoru bent towards her suitcase and began shifting through it. Kai, who had stopped typing momentarily, was looking at her through the corner of his eye, confused. She had called him "Sunshine". For the entire day and a bit he had known her she had been nothing but nice and kind and happy whilst he treated her as coldly and indifferently as everyone else on the planet.

"Ah-ha!" Kaoru exclaimed, having found what she was looking for. She pulled out her black pyjama top and then, noticing Kai staring at her, smiled happily at him before continuing to search. "So tell me Kai-kun, what exactly are you doing in my room."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Sending an e-mail, are you blind or just stupid?"

"Neither, but perhaps you are. There is a much faster computer in the study and another one in Tyson's room, so why use this old hunk of junk?"

"Hn," He hit the send key, "The study is too close to the dining room, you were all talking really loudly and I have a headache. As for Tyson's room I'd much rather be here listening to you ramble on about nothing than with Tyson listening to him ramble on about being the World Champion again."

Kaoru laughed. "Well I'm very flattered to hear that my ramblings are your preference." She told him, triumphantly pulling out the nightie that she had lent Hilary the night before and laying it out next to the pyjama top.

Kai glanced at the computer screen which now read:

_**Message Sent**_

_Return to Inbox or yadda-yadda_

Kai didn't bother to read the rest. _It's unusual of you to talk to someone Kai. _Said Dranzer, entering his mind.

I suppose…he thought absently…but as long as I am then I may as well ask…

"Uh," Kai didn't usually start conversations but when Kaoru fixed him with her innocent blue gaze he swallowed and continued, "so, why do you have that anyway?" he asked, referring to the nightie. "I mean it's so…so…"

"So I've-slept-with-every-man-on-the-planetish?" she finished for him, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Yeah, I know. I didn't buy it if that's what you think. My friend got it for me when I was staying with her. It was a joke but I kept it anyway, for…you know, stuff, like scaring Tyson with. But I'm glad it's getting some real use, and Tyson seems to enjoy it on Hilary more than on me." She laughed.

I can't see why. Kai thought. Then realising where this was going blushed just as a mental image appeared in his mind.

"You mean the friend you stayed with in Australia?" asked Kai, hoping talking would clear his mind. Kaoru's head snapped up.

"Yeah…but how did you know about my friends in Australia?" she asked him curiously, Kaoru didn't remember even telling him how she knew Tyson, let alone about her travels.

Kai immediately realized his mistake. "Sorry." He mumbled. "Ray and Max told me last night, about you being an orphan and Tyson's mum and that you travelled and…stalked us…I hope you don't mind, they just thought I should know and, well, yeah…sorry." Kai said quietly, feeling guilty for knowing her past without her consent.

"Oh, no, it's okay! Don't worry. I was going to tell you, I just didn't get time. I was just surprised you knew." Kaoru smiled reassuringly and then went back to her searching. "There!" she said triumphantly pulling out a pair of purple pyjama pants. "Well, I'll save you from the embarrassment of having me change in here and head for the bathroom. Thank-you for talking to me Kai-kun." She bowed slightly before walking out of the room.

* * *

Kaoru woke the next morning to the usual sounds of her sleeping friends. _6:00 o'clock again,_ She thought tiredly, _and this morning no Kai. He must be out running already._

Kaoru slumped over to her bedroom and pulled on a pair of faded black tracksuit pants with hot pink stitching and a hot pink stripe that ran along the hip area. Then, yawning, she slipped into an old white Singlet that read _I Love Beyblade_ and then in brackets underneath _(ers). I Love Beybladers._ Tyson had brought her the top insisting that it referred to him.

Kaoru then made her way quietly back through the big room, to the front door and slipped out.

-----

Kaoru spotted Kai immediately when she reached the park. He was jogging alone, wearing his usual attire, with his scarf billowing behind him. Kaoru smiled and began to sprint to catch up with him. When she was just a few meters behind him Kai sensed her presence and turned his head to see her. He groaned.

"Now Kai, what kind of a greeting is that?" Kaoru asked happily.

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked bluntly.

"Didn't we have this discussion yesterday?"

"Why don't you just sleep in like the rest of them?"

"I dunno. I would, I mean I usually do, but I just haven't been able to lately. It's probably 'cause I'm sleeping on a futon rather than on my own bed and with all the noise those guys make…how on earth I manage to get to sleep in the first place is a mystery." She laughed. "So are we training today?"

"You're not." Kai said keeping his gaze fixed ahead.

"'Not like you have any say in it." Kaoru told him, smiling.

"Hn, no training today, press conference. The Mini Tournament is tomorrow."

"Really." She asked him, surprised.

"Hn."

Kai stopped running and turned to walk back to the dojo.

"'Not giving up already are you Kai?" Kaoru teased.

"Hn. Getting Breakfast."

She smiled "Why eat at the Dojo, after all there are so many distractions. Tyson snoring, Tyson stuffing his face, Tyson choking whilst stuffing his face, actually let me rephrase that: Why eat at the Dojo, there's Tyson."

Kai smirked and turned back to her. "And I suppose you have an alternative."

"Yup! I know this great diner that opens at 6:30 and it's…" she glanced at her watch, "6:22 now so…what do you say Kai? Two more laps then Breakfast with me?"

"Hn." He began to run again.

* * *

The BladeBreakers, accompanied by Hilary and Kaoru were waiting in the wings of the lage Bey-stadium Mr.Dickenson had hired for them. Currently the press conference they had had a day previous was playing on the great TVs that adorned the walls of the stadium. The fans were watching it because it explained a bit better what exactly the Mini Tournament was for and even a bit about the upcoming Championship Tournament.

On a smaller TV situated in the wings, the BladeBreakers also watched.

"_We just want some strong Bladers." _Said the TV Ray. "_A few kids with the Beyblading Spirit and the moves to back it up."_

_The woman who had asked the question nodded and made a note on her clipboard. Mr.Dickenson pointed to a young man who was right at the back and waving his hand like crazy._

"_Yes, you." Said Mr.Dickenson._

"_Um, yes, I'm from Bey-press, I'd like to address a question to, uh, Mr.Hiwatari," the boy opened his eyes, "What exactly do you hope to accomplish by joining the BladeBreakers if, I am correct in assuming, you wish to become the World Champion. Wouldn't you have to defeat Mr.Granger, your team mate, to do so?"_

_Kai rolled his eyes. "How can I be Champion if my team isn't strong enough win the championships?" _TV Kai answered with a question of his own.

"_So you believe the BladeBreakers will win?"_

"_Of course."_

"_Yes, you in the blue." Mr.Dickenson said pointing to an elderly man in a blue suit._

"_Right, this question is for any of you. I was wondering, why exactly do you need 8 bladers? That's a big leap from previous tournaments. And also, do you know anything more about the Championship Tournament that you could tell us? I know that I personally am hanging on the edge of my seat."_

_Tyson laughed. "Honestly, we have no more idea than you. We don't actually _need_ 8 bladers but Mr.Dickenson said that the more bladers you have, the more of an advantage. As for the World Tournament, I have no idea. The BBA hasn't told us anymore than they've told you…"_

"_Actually," Mr.Dickenson interrupted, "I've just been informed that I am allowed to disclose some new information to you." Everyone immediately became silent. "Round one of the Tournament will start in approximately one month in Beijing in China." Mr.Dickenson smiled. "And that, I think, will conclude the press conference for today, come on boys."_

"Well then," came the voice of DJ Jazzman from the inside the stadium, "I think we're about ready to start." Wild cheers were heard from outside and the TV's picture changed to show the great doors the BladeBreakers would enter by.

"Ok, are we all ready?" asked Hilary doing a final once-over of the bladers, making sure that Tyson hadn't accidentally tucked his shirt into his underwear. She sighed happily. "Alright then, good luck."

"THEN WITHOUT FUTHER ADO, PLEASE WELCOME…THE BLADEBREAKERS!"

* * *

Hmmm…does that count as a cliffhanger? Tell me what you think. Here are those A/N's...

(1) - Shoji Doors - Shoji doors are those Japanese slinding doors which have rice paper windows and…um…yer, I think that's right, don't hesitate to tell me if its not. And they are used in the Dojo.

(2) - Kai-kun - Kun is the title given men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. A male might address female inferiors by " kun," usually in schools or companies. It can be attached to both surnames and given names. It is less polite than " san." Normally I wouldn't use Japanese words unless I had to for the sake of accuracy (like above). But in the scenes that play around in my head Kaoru always calls Kai, Kai-kun. I've kind of gotten fond of it in a weird way and I think it sounds really cute. Kind of like a nickname. Sort of…

Anyway…check out my profile if you get time. I'm planning some other stories and details on them can be found there. I'd love some feedback and ideas if you have them!

Now only one thing remains…REVIEW!

Soi.


	3. Kai Vs Who?

I'M NOT DEAD! Really! I'm not!

Geez…I'm hopeless aren't I? How long has it been since I updated? More than a month anyway…I'm sorry! Really. Actually I finished this chappie a while ago and I was just putting off editing it, you know that old "I'll do it tomorrow!" Yeah, there was a lot of that going on…then I realised it was March already and I was like "Aw…crap!" So I like rushed to get it done but yeah…HERE IT IS!

I promised in the first chapter that the chappies would get shorter and I'm proud to say I've kept that! YAY! This chapter is about 5500 where as the others are both about 9000 so I'm getting there!

But, and I'm proud to say, procrastination wasn't the only reason chapter 3 was late coming. I'm currently writing a TyHil one-shot called Boys Are Stupid! (Three guesses who that refers to --;;) cough-TYSON-cough . It's nearly finished and I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. Here's a special preview for my loyal readers!

**Summary:** Every time he looks her way, when he smiles, when he's gulping down his food like a pig, when he's grinning like a little child and telling her to calm down, even when she just looks at him. When he tells her he hates her. It hurts…so much. Maybe today she will reach breaking point. TyHil…One shot

Yup! So a SUPER DUPER THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! To my wonderful, fantabulous reviewers and to **Spiritual Energy **in particular, whose review, excuse me; reveiw**S** had me simply speechless with joy! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Yup. Don't own Beyblade. Never will. -sob-

* * *

**Kai Vs…Who!**

Kaoru happily surveyed the Bladers as Hilary did her final checks. Stuff like making sure Tyson's jacket wasn't on inside out. _She's just like mom, _Kaoru thought and smiled.

"ALRIGHT, THEN WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, PLEASE WELCOME…THE BLADEBREAKERS!"

A spotlight illuminated the doorway as the Bladebreakers walked out, a tidal wave of cheers meeting them.

Max smiled embarrassedly and waved slightly, Tyson, whose hand was high in the air, was waving furiously and Ray, walking next to the both of them laughed and waved too. Kai walked behind, neither waving nor smiling. Kaoru and Hilary followed behind the boys and did not wave, knowing that the cheers weren't for them.

Tyson waltzed right up to DJ Jazzman and took his mike.

"HEY THERE ALL YOU CRAZY BEYBLADE FANS!" he yelled into the mike and was received by even further cheers. "WELCOME, AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY TODAY! WE NEED THREE MORE BLADERS SO I WANT YOU TO ALL KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR WHO YOU THINK IS BEST, GOT IT?" The Crowd roared.

"He sure knows how to word an audience doesn't he?" asked Kaoru.

"Nah, they're not listening, only looking. He's World Champ, remember? He could say there was a monkey up his butt and they'd all still cheer." Hilary replied. Kaoru giggled and sat on the sideline bench, Hilary next to her. (1)

"ALRIGHT, HERES HOW IT WORKS. RAY AND MAX ARE UP FIRST," the overhead television set projected the format plan as Tyson spoke, "AND AS THE WANNA-BE BLADERS COME THEY WILL BE TAKEN ON ONE BY ONE. WE ARE THE JUDGES, THERE ARE NO TAG TEAM OR DOULBLE MATCHES AND BITBEAST ARE ALLOWED! NOW ALL I CAN SAY IS…GOOD LUCK!"

Tyson strode back to the bench with Kai but Max and Ray remained and separated to their respective Bey-Dishes.

"THEN LET'S ALL WELCOME OUR FIRST BLADERS…JINJE ACEMAN AND MELICA ADARDES.

* * *

The BladeBreakers had faced all of A through G and still no Blader with the skills even in coo-ee of Champion material had arisen. All in all the tournament was beginning to look like a bit of a failure. Now with Tyson and Kai up to the J's of block G-M hope was fading fast as Blader after Blader fell hopelessly to their more experienced opponents. 

Kai sighed as he and Tyson took a five minute break, had a bite to eat and a quick drink. "This isn't working." He told the team.

"Don't worry," grinned Max, ever positive, "we're not even half way through yet, someone will turn up." The others nodded in agreement as Tyson and Kai returned to the Bey-dishes to face Taylor Jenson and Ilsa Jordandis. Both of whose blades were almost immediately ejected from the dish.

"Well AJ," said Brad Best from up in his commentator's box, "all I can say is, I hope the BladeBreakers weren't too excited!"

"Right there with ya Brad. This tournament really has been fairly monotonous for our much beloved BladeBrakers, win, win and well, win. Not one of these wanna-be's has even come close to matching the incredible standard our boys are setting."

"Yup, but you know what they say, the show must go on. So please welcome Adrian Julard and Parker Kaliente."

The children walked up to the bey-dishes and prepared their blades.

"3…2…1…LET IT RIP" said DJ Jazzman and they were off once again.

Parker launched her blade into the centre of the dish and immediately Kai knew she was no good. His blade connected with the far side of the bey-dish and began circling the amateur. Any experienced Blader knows that hitting the precise centre of the bey-dish throws your balance off and slows you down. Amateurs, however, consider it a point of advantage, like being in the middle gives them easy attack opportunities.

"Dranzer." Commanded Kai quietly and the blade hit Parkers clear out of the dish.

Kaoru and the others watched this knowingly. The girl had had no chance from the start.

"I'm, uh, just going to get a drink. Okay guys? Bye." Kaoru quickly excused herself and left.

"But we have…drinks here." Ray trailed off as Kaoru ran out.

"She probably wants coke or something." Hilary told him and they resumed watching the battle unfold between Tyson and Adrian. (2)

The kid wasn't actually fairing too badly. Tyson found that he was one of the strongest yet. His endurance was his strength and his speed his weakness. Adrian Julard also used strategy unlike many of the others. He had his blade hit the far side of the dish and then circle round to follow Tyson's knowing that the champ's strength was attack and that it wouldn't be as effective unless it could be used head on.

Tyson smirked. _What do you think Dragoon?_

_No. He's strong, but not strong enough. No bit-beast. He's better than most of the others here, but that's not saying much._

Tyson laughed silently._ All right then. Let's stop playing._

"Tyson. Finish it up!"

"Yes sir, Captain Kai, sir!" said Tyson sarcastically and Kai raised an annoyed eyebrow.

Dragoon suddenly broke away from his pursuer and set off up the side of the dish. When he reached the edge he stopped and sat there.

"Ha." Said Adrian. "I may be just an amateur, but even I know that you just made a big mistake. You're teetering on the edge. All I have to do is blow and you'll fall off." He punctuated this comment with a strong puff of air.

Tyson raised an eyebrow. _Well, he sure throws insults like a pro._

Just as Adrian's blade reached Tyson's, Dragoon scooted along the centimetre thin edge of the bey-dish propelled by its Phantom Hurricane attack. Adrian's, however, slow as it was ran up and straight over the edge.

"But…what…how? I had you just where I wanted you. It's not fair."

Tyson's blade rocketed back to his hand and he caught it easily.

"Let me give you a tip, ok kid? Attacks aren't just for attacking. A good blader can use all of his attacks for attack, defence, speed and even endurance. I learnt that particular move from Raul and Julia. It isn't easy, but if you practise you'll get it. And then I will have passed it onto you. You're not a bad Blader. You'll go far. So I guess I'll see you at the top one day." Tyson held out his hand. (3)

Adrian smiled and took it. "Count on it."

"Well," said AJ Topper, "that was one sweet battle. It looks like things are finally heating up 'round here."

"You can say that again AJ." Agreed Brad. "I can't wait to see where this is going! So here are our next Bladers. Sarina Kelly and Kaoru Kumori!"

Every BladeBreaker mouth dropped instantly, with of course the exception of Tyson and Hilary who had already known Kaoru would be Bladeing. Hilary saw the boy's expressions and burst into a fit of hilarious giggles. She, Tyson and Kaoru had agreed to keep this their little secret until the Mini Tournament for two reasons. 1) The fact that had the BladeBreakers known, they would have wanted to see her blade and in doing so taken away her element of surprise and 2) Knowing that their expressions would be hilarious.

And, Hilary reflected, this was not the only secret being kept from the others. The next few days were sure to be full of surprises for them, and full of laughter and hilarious moments for the girls.

Kaoru winked at Tyson but walked towards Kai.

"You know AJ," said Brad Best, "I've heard that Kaoru is actually an old friend of the Champ himself."

"Right you are Brad. In fact I believe she is actually his sister! Not by blood of course. She was adopted into the Granger family at a young age but has been travelling, apparently, and this is why we have neither seen nor heard of her until now. She has been staying with the BladeBreakers for about half a week now but judging by their faces I'd say she has yet to tell them of her Beyblading ability."

A close up of the stunned boys and the laughter bound Hilary popped up on the large TVs, which only made Hilary laugh harder.

Kai was just as stunned as the others._ 'Dranzer, could this have been what you sensed?'_ Kai asked, opening the mind link between himself and Dranzer.

_Maybe, the strange thing is, I didn't sense a Bitbeast on her._

'_She might not have one.'_

_True._

"You blade?" asked Kai.

Kaoru only smirked and pulled out her Blade. It was purple, with a black weight ring and red and blue stickers on the attack ring. The bit chip was silver but Kai couldn't see if there was a Bitbeast there or not.

"Surprised?" Kaoru asked and licked her lips, eagerly anticipating the fight. Kai saw the fire in her eyes and was immediately aware that this would be no easy battle.

"Just a bit." He said, regaining his composure. "Ready?"

"Born ready." Kaoru replied.

"BLADERS READY?" came DJ Jazzman's voice and Kaoru drew her launcher which was custom made black with purple, blue and red wings running down the sides. "THEN 3…" Kaoru loaded her blade onto the launcher with a snap, "2…" she threaded the ripcord through and it made a grating sound on the sides of the launcher, "1…" she raised both launcher and blade above her head and clenched her grip around the ripcord, "LET IT RIP!" lowered and pulled.

The Purple blade hit the opposite side of the dish and quickly pulled away, speeding round the dish watching Kai's blade eagerly. Dranzer had hit just off centre and was watching Kaoru's blade with anticipation.

Tyson quickly finished off his opponent and then turned to watch the other battle. _This'll be good._ He thought.

Kai was confused. Something was missing from this battle…

_That's it!_

Unlike any other blader Kai had ever faced, Kaoru was completely silent as she battled. Just like him. Her entire focus was on her blade and her opponent. Kai narrowed his eyes. How did she control her blade without speaking? And then Kai noticed a faint silvery glow resinating from the bit chip.

_So she does have a Bitbeast._

That was how she was controlling it, Kai realised, by using the mindlink between herself and her beast. He watched her closely, aware that both he and she were waiting for the other to make the first move. Then he realised something. Her eyes were moving to where her blade was to be before the blade got there.

_So your mind works faster than your blade. _Kai smirked. _That'll be your downfall._

Her eyes darted left and her blade followed, then right and her blade followed, then left…

"Now Dranzer! To the Left!" Kai commanded his bit and it immediately obeyed. Dranzer darted to the left and came in sharp contact with Kaoru's blade. Kai was surprised, however, that the blade was not pushed away but instead was fighting back tirelessly.

Kai glanced up to find that Kaoru's face was set in a cringe. Slowly her features softened again and Kai dismissed it. He watched as Kaoru's eyes darted to the right and immediately he was on her.

"So you thing you've found my weakness do you?" asked Kaoru, speaking for the first time in the match. She looked up from the battle and met Kai's dark crimson eyes unflinchingly with her own silver blue ones. She smirked and Kai noticed that her blade was suddenly dodging and attacking flawlessly. But how was it possible? Her eyes weren't on the battle and she wasn't shouting commands either. It was like her blade had a mind of it's own and was battling without her assistance. Kaoru raised an eyebrow as Kai studied her in confusion, "Think again," she said, "I have no weakness. Or at least none that you'll ever know."

"Is that so?" he asked determined not to let this girl get to him.

"It is." She replied and her blade smacked hard into Dranzer.

Kai flinched visibly. "You're strong." He said.

"No duh."

"Hmm."

'_Can you keep him busy?'_ Asked Kaoru._ 'I want to talk a bit more.'_

_Of course._

'_Dranzer, do you think you can hold her off without my help? This conversation is just getting interesting.'_

_I'll try._

"You know you didn't have to enter this tournament? We could have just bladed you and put you on the team like that, if you'd told us you could blade."

"But what if I'm not the best? At least this way you'll see if there is anyone more deserving."

He smirked. "True."

"I suppose you think you'll beat me, Kai?"

"I expect. What do you call your Bitbeast?"

"What makes you think I have a Bitbeast?"

"What makes you think I'm blind?" Kai asked sarcastically.

"What makes you think her name is you business?" Kaoru retorted and blinked innocently.

"Just asking."

_Master, I need your help. _Dranzer entered his mind.

'_Alright.'_

"Dranzer let's finish her off. Go!" Dranzer shot forward and ground against Kaoru's blade.

_You know we can't win._ Kaoru's bit spoke up.

'_Of course.'_

_He's as strong as Tyson, if not stronger. We've never beaten Tyson. Doesn't it bother you that we'll suffer defeat?_

'_Not really.'_

_Why?_

'_I never expected to win. I don't have to, I just have to impress him and I'd say I've done that. Wouldn't you?'_

_Hmm, I suppose._

'_Don't worry. If he gets too big a head I'll challenge him to a rematch and let you come out. Okay?'_

_Sounds reasonable._

'_As for now, we have a battle to fight. You ready Aura?'_

_Born ready._

Kaoru smirked, happy to hear her own saying used by her Bitbeast.

"Ready to lose Kai?" Kaoru bluffed.

"I'm ready, but I won't lose." He replied and smirked.

"GO!" both bladers yelled and their blades charged into battle.

"Dranzer, Fire Arrow!" Dranzer emerged from its blade and roared mightily.

"Okay Aura, Faith Spell." The faint silvery glow that had hung over Kaoru's blade was suddenly stronger and a bluey-purple. It emerged in a great tendril of light and Kaoru placed a hand over her heart feeling her Bitbeasts strong warm presence there and closed her eyes happily.

"Why is she using that?" asked Hilary agitatedly. Tyson who was standing next to her now rolled his eyes, "She won't win if she uses that! It's not even an attack."

"She's not trying to win." Said Tyson causing them all to look at him strangely. "She doesn't need to. But look at the light show, you think there's a doubt in anyone's mind she's fantastic?"

Kai was indeed amazed by what he saw. _It's beautiful._ He determined.

And then it was gone. Kai blinked and suddenly realised that Kaoru's blade was no longer in the Bey-dish. But it was strange. Usually when attacking a blade which is also on the attack there is resistance. At least a little bit. But there had been none. Like a hot knife cuts through Butter. Kai hadn't even noticed the impact as he marvelled at the beautiful tendril of light.

Kaoru stood across from him smiling lightly.

"You Lost." Kai stated somewhat surprised and in the back of his mind he could hear the commentators proclaiming the same thing. "Aren't you upset?"

"Not really. You're an amazing BeyBlader Kai. I always knew you were."

"Her name's Aura." Kai stated more than asked.

"That's right." Said Kaoru and smiled fondly.

"What if you'd used her? Would you have won?"

"Maybe. Probably not. I can't beat Tyson and you're on about the same level as him, if not higher." Kaoru told him and Kai smirked.

"Thanks for the battle." Said Kai and held out a hand for her to take. Kaoru took it. "You're a nice change of pace from the rest of these losers."

Kaoru fought against the grin she could feel erupting across her face. "Anytime." She turned and walked from the bey-dish back to the wings and out. Kai did the same, turning to his team and making his way back towards them.

"The BladeBreakers have just informed us that they are planing to take a five minute break to discus the previous battle." Said AJ Topper.

"So you're welcome to take a short intermission. Have a drink or a snack, toilet, souvenirs, just be back within five minutes or you'll miss the next match." Brad told them.

"And after that match, I don't think I'll even be game to blink."

* * *

"Dude? Why didn't you tell us Ru could blade?" Asked Max. 

Tyson smirked. "Cause. Kaoru was gonna stand a better chance if you guys hadn't already seen her blade and…"

"And because you're expressions were priceless!" Hilary cut him off.

"She's on the team." Said Kai simply and all faces turned to regard him. "She's good, just needs some practice."

"Don't you wanna see the others before you pick?" asked Ray.

"No. She's on the team, regardless." Said Kai again and Hilary's lip twitched up a little.

"You like her don't you?" She asked.

"Like her?" echoed Kai sceptically and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Me?'. "No."

He closed his eyes dismissively and leant against the wall just as Kaoru burst in. Kai cracked an eye open to watch the proceedings.

"Kaoru! You did so great!" exclaimed Hilary and wrapped the girl in a hug.

"Good job Ru." Said Tyson and hugged her close. He buried his face in her hair and whispered, "You made us proud." Referring to himself and Hiro. Kaoru smiled and hugged her best friend back tightly.

"Thanks Ty."

Ray watched the two contentedly. If he had ever questioned the closeness of their relationship his suspicions would have been long gone by this point. As they embraced tightly he remembered his own family and missed them at once. But Ray remembered that the first round of the Tournament was in Beijing, China. He would visit his village and pop in on them.

"Um…shouldn't you guys be getting ready for your next match?" Asked Kaoru.

* * *

"_Well that about wraps things up for today." _Said the TV Brad Best. 

"_Yep, and we've seen some great matches and some amazing new talent."_

"_Say AJ? Do you think maybe Tyson and Kaoru trained together as children? She does seem to have that same keen fighting instinct."_

"_I reckon you're onto something Brad. But to find out for sure, you'd all better be back tomorrow." Said AJ addressing the crowd. "M-Z is sure to heat things up so… DON'T MISS IT!"_

Kai switched off the Television.

"So, what do you want to do now?" asked Kaoru, for the room had filled with silence.

"I dunno." Said Hilary, then, "Wanna give the boys makeovers!"

"Okay!" Kaoru cried happily and then laughed with Hilary to find that all the boys, save for Kai, had fled.

"Impressive." Said Kai. "I don't think I've ever seen them run that fast."

"Well, since you're the only one left Kai, it looks like you'll have to be the one to get a Makeover." Kaoru told him.

"I get dibs on the hair." Said Hilary.

"No fair." Said Kaoru.

"I'd like to see you try." Said Kai and both girls laughed again.

"Aww. We'd never give you a makeover Kai," said Kaoru and then bent towards him seductively, "You're much too perfect as you are." Kai raised an eyebrow and Hilary burst out laughing.

The door bell rang.

"Ah," said Kaoru, "Another victim, I mean, lucky make-over-ee." She and Hilary ran to answer the door.

The boys peered in from behind the Shoji door. "Too perfect?" echoed Tyson questioningly.

Kai shrugged and then smirked. "She has a point." He said much to the surprise of his friends. After all, since when did Kai actually humour someone?

"KENNY!" Loud screams suddenly erupted from the front door.

Kenny came running out into the big room apparently very scared. And with good reason for only seconds after Kaoru and Hilary burst through the door and were on him giving him hugs and kisses.

"Help." Squeaked Kenny, holding dizzy protectively against himself.

"Yo, Kay, Hils, lay off a bit." Tyson said though he was thoroughly amused. Kaoru pulled back from Kenny and looked at the boy.

"I though you were on vacation." She said.

"I was, but Tyson wrote me to say that the team was back together and then Kai emailed the plans for the Minnie Tournament and now I hear that you might be joining the team Ru?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well I convinced Mum to let me come back. Now let me see that blade of your's." he said eagerly and reached out to her. She pulled away, giving him a sideways look.

"Not a chance Chief," Kaoru said and plucked the blade from her pocket, throwing it up a few times for good measure, "Aura is off limits to everyone but me, you know that."

Kenny pouted. "You're no fun."

Tyson rolled his eyes and then turned to the others who hadn't known Kaoru for as long as himself, Hilary and Kenny. "Sorry," he apologised, "Ru's very protective of Aura, she won't let anyone near her except me…and then only on very rare occasions."

"Why?" asked Max.

"I dunno. It's always been like that."

"Did you two learn together?" asked Ray remembering that Tyson and Kaoru had been friends since they were both three.

"Yeah, when we were about six Hiro taught us." Kaoru smiled. "But I've always had Aura, even since before I was bladeing. As long as I can remember."

"How can you have a Bitbeast before you even know how to blade?" asked Max.

"Dunno," answered Tyson, "But she has. Kaoru's a bit different, if you haven't noticed."

She grinned.

"Noticed." Replied Ray affirmatively and Kaoru laughed.

"Hn." Mumbled Kai to himself then turned to Kaoru. "Show her to me." He ordered.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. Was that an order? She stuck out her tongue. "No."

"Kai?" asked Tyson, "What are you doing? You know she's not going to let you see Aura."

"Hn." He said again but all the same began to walk towards the girl. No one defied him what he wanted. Kaoru began to back away. She wasn't afraid of him, just wary. He was bigger and stronger than she was and there was no limit to what he could do to her if she pissed him off enough. "I said: Show her to me." He whispered dangerously just as Kaoru's back hit the wall.

_No where to go_. She mused. _Trapped by an angry young boy…how annoying_. She sighed.

"What makes you think you have the right to see her? I haven't known you half a week."

"I hadn't known you a full day when I trusted you with Dranzer." Kaoru's eyes widened, so he had trusted her! But Kai wasn't stupid, he was keeping his voice low so only Kaoru could hear, he didn't want his team knowing he trusted her, how demeaning. "If you get onto the team it won't matter, I'll be your captain and you'll have to show her to me."

Kaoru's eyes darted down. He was right.

"Why prolong the inevitable!"

He's right! Why bother? But…my Aura…

"I'm sorry." Kaoru's head shot up. Kai Hiwatari couldn't be apologising…could he? "Just please trust me. I won't hurt her, I promise, I just want to see her."

Now why did that sound so familiar?

* * *

-- Flashback -- 

"I just want to talk to her. Please, I promise I won't hurt her. I swear. Look, it's not that big of a deal. Just please let me see her Kai. I'll stand right here, you can keep an eye on me to make sure I don't run off. I'll only be a second. Just please trust me."

Kai was about to shoot her down when instead he was caught by her eyes. He hadn't noticed them before. There was no hidden agenda to them, no reason for betrayal. He found, to his surprise, that he did trust her. Her eyes were sincere, understanding, and hopeful. He could see a rare admiration shinning within their silver, blue depths and something almost…sad.

--EndFlashback --

* * *

"If you tell anyone I swear I'll kill you but the truth is, for whatever reason, I trust you. And It's weird, cause I don't trust anyone and I've just met you."

Kai's eyes were sincere. They were wide and hopeful and doubtful.

_Trust him._ Spoke Aura.

'_Alright.'_

Kaoru held out her blade.

Kai looked at her for a minute and then to her blade. And took it.

"There's no Bitbeast." He said.

Kaoru's eyes widened a little and she shot a quick look at her blade. He was right! No bitbeast!

'_Go Aura!' _Kaoru cheered silently. But said to Kai:

"I know. I took her out before."

"Oh." He looked at the blade with its purple attack ring. It was circular, mounted on a hexagonal, black weight ring. On each point of the hexagon a sharp purple needle jutted forth from the attack ring and in the middle of these needles were the conventional rhombus attack edges on which were alternating red and blue stickers. All in all the blade looked mean.

Kai suddenly noticed it was very heavy. "How much is your weight ring?" he asked.

"Dunno." Kaoru looked away.

"How can you not know?" asked Kai and Kaoru shrugged. "Does it have any good attacks?"

"A few."

"Why didn't you use her against me?" Kaoru looked at him.

"I didn't want to. I wouldn't have won anyway."

"Still…"

"Can I have her back?" asked Kaoru with her hand out ready to receive her blade.

"Sure." He gave it back to her and watched as a sudden calm descended upon her. Her eyes cleared and shone and a small smile graced her face. She seemed to let out a little breath that she had been holding and hugged Aura protectively to her chest.

Kai fought the smile tugging on his lips.

* * *

"Well AJ, we're sure making some impressive progress in this here tournament, wouldn't you say?" Brad Best's voice rang clear through out the stadium. 

"I would indeed Brad," said AJ, "In fact I believe today has been even more exciting than yesterday!"

"I second that Judgement!" cried Brad enthusiastically, "Lets recap, shall we!"

"First up for M-Z were Tyson and Ray. There were some amazing battles and some really strong competitors!"

"There sure were AJ! I particularly remember a certain battle between the champ and one Maya Perry."

"Dude! I remember that battle! It was awesome! Maya, who's only been Bladeing for three years, found a way to take Tyson's Phantom Hurricane and throw it right back at him!" Cried AJ.

"And what a pity it just wasn't strong enough! Though I tell you what, if Maya comes back after a few more years of training she'll get that spot easy. She's AWESOME! What do you guys think?"

A roar erupted from the crowd.

"And don't go forgetting Sanjay Rorah. He was up against Ray and get this…actually matched his speed!"

"Yep, that was pretty amazing Brad. Especially since our Ray is a master of speed!"

"That's true. But you can't just rely on one strength to win a battle, you've gotta be rounded AJ. Just like Ray showed us by winning that battle using his attacking skills which Sanjay, unfortunately, just didn't have."

"Which brings us up to now Brad, the second round of M-Z, though now its really only T-Z considering we just finished M-S."

"So, I hope you all enjoyed that short intermission and are now ready to get back into the Beybattles 'cause I sure know I am!"

"And up first we have the beautiful Miss Jacinta Talritana and Mr. Matthew Tan."

A gorgeous boy with orange hair and blond tips came out holding a black blade above his head and winking his green eyes at every girl in the vicinity and flashing his pearly whites at them. He did so to Kaoru and she rolled her eyes as Tyson beside her growled angrily.

"Oh, please!" said Kaoru exasperatedly.

Behind Matthew walked a happy, bouncy, bubbly purple haired girl. She had orangey-red eyes and was dressed in pinks, whites and baby blues.

"Oh dear god." Muttered Kaoru and slapped a hand to her forehead for she had seen this girl before and immediately anticipated what would happen.

Seeing Matthew making his way towards Kai's arena, Jacinta's happy orangey eyes became cold and determined. She suddenly put on speed and pushed in front of Matthew making her way up to Kai's bey-dish.

"Oy," said Mathew, "I was goin' there!"

"Stiff." Jacinta told him and stuck out her tongue before turning to regard Kai. "Hey." She said seductively.

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"So Kai," she began, "I bet you didn't know I was your biggest fan."

"I bet you didn't know I didn't care." Said Kai with an icy glare. Jacinta only laughed.

"Oh Kai," she said and giggled a bit more, "You're such a kidder."

The others sweat dropped. Kaoru just rolled her eyes. Oh yes, she knew Jacinta.

"Meet the creator of the 'We Love Kai' chant and the founder of the Kai fan club." She whispered to the Boys, "The fan club I travelled with."

"You know her?" asked Tyson and Kaoru nodded.

"So anyways, I was like thinking, that if you're not doing anything tonight then we could totally…"

"BLADERS READY?" asked DJ Jazzman and Jacinta fumed, ready to yell at him when suddenly he continued. "THEN 3…" she hastily drew her blade and launcher and threaded the rip cord clumsily, "2…1…LET IT RIP!" then she pulled the cord and the blade hit the dish wall and wobbled unsteadily.

"Oh no! Don't do that." She begged her hot pink and baby blue blade just as Kai's Dranzer hit it and sent if effortlessly out of the dish. "What! No fair! You can't do that!"

"I just did." Kai reasoned.

"Do you even realise how long I spent learning this stupid game? And why? So I could impress you, Kai Hiwitari."

"Mission failed." He mumbled smugly.

"B-but…I love you! We belong together Kai!" cried the distraught fan. Ignoring her blade she ran across the dish and towards Kai.

The boy crossed his arms exasperatedly and stepped to the side letting the girl fall flat on her face as she lunged at the place where his body had once been.

Jacinta managed to scramble to her knees and tenderly touched her face before she began to cry hysterically. Kai rolled his eyes and looked towards Mr. D mouthing the word 'Help'. Mr. Dickenson nodded and hastily punched a button on his pager.

Two burly men appeared from the wings and carried the sobbing Jacinta out of the arena much to the pleasure of Kai.

"Max, hurry it up will you? I'm bored already."

"Ay Ay, Captain Kai!" Called Max enthusiastically, copying Tyson's joke from the previous day but adding his own little spin on it. Kai just raised an eyebrow. Kaoru and the others laughed.

Max finished off his opponent with Draciel's Gravity Control attack. Matthew, for all his cockiness, hadn't actually been that bad of a blader and Max congratulated him before sending him on his way.

"Brad, I have a confession." Said AJ.

"What have you done?" asked Brad in an accusing tone, putting on a show for the audience,

"I sort of glanced ahead in the line up." Admitted AJ.

"Well, how far ahead?" asked Brad.

"Just one match." Said AJ.

"That's not too bad," Brad reasoned, "We're gonna have to read it out now anyway."

"I know," Said AJ, "But see the thing is, I know one of the bladers."

There was a mumble from the audience.

"You do?"

"Yup, but I've never seen them blade." Answered AJ.

"Never seen them blade? How can that be?"

"Well you see Brad, I didn't even know they _could_ blade."

"You know them and you didn't know they could blade? That's strange. Do I know them?"

"I reckon you do Brad."

"Well let's get on with this then, I wanna know who it is!"

"Okay!" said AJ loudly, "Then ladies and gentle men please welcome Mark Taros and…HILARY TATIBANA!"

There was a gasp from the crowd as all attention turned to the wings. There stood Hilary. A smile on her face, a blade in her hand and a glint in her eyes that said she meant business.

* * *

WOOHOO! Chapter 3 finished! -dances- 

Et voila! (And here it is!) Author notes!

(1) - Sideline bench - I have no idea what this is actually called. It's that thing the team sits in while they watch a battle. It's like a bench surrounded by half a glass box. If you know what it is please tell me cause I hate it when I can't make my stories accurate! -sob-

(2) - Coke - Yeah, Coke-cola, we all know what it is, or at least I would hope so. I don't own it, if I did I would be so rich! -fantasises- -drools-

(3) - "I learnt that particular move from Raul and Julia." (Tyson) - Yeah…not so sure. I just put that in there 'cause it fit, I'm aware that it's probably not correct…so sue me, actually don't! I'm poor! Just bear with me, okay!

I will try VERY hard to finish the next chapter within the one month mark but I can't promise anything. Now I ask you to please review! It's not so hard! Just press the little button and write:

-I like it! (if you do)

-I don't like it because…(if you don't)

HOW SIMPLE! And you'll absolutely make my day!


	4. One Big Happy Team

Oh my god. This is so late! You all must hate me to bits! -cries-

I'M SO SORRY! I APOLOGISE TO THE WORLD! I'M NOT WORTHY TO BREATH THE SAME AIR AS EVERYONE ELSE! I'M SO SORRY! (Yay my Ritsu (Fruits Basket) impersonation!) PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

**Why it was late. **-Pants- Yes. I'm okay now. So, do you wanna know the reasons why this chappie was as late as it was? Huh? Huh? Well for starters I've been really sick recently. I had a cough and then I got over that and I caught a virus and then I got over that and had THE WORST (!) P.M.S. _EVER!_ From pains to nausea to emotional swings of a whole new calibre (but you probably didn't want to know that)! Oh yes. It was fun. Not to mention that I've been home so much I have a pile of homework a mile high! -cries- I need a hug!

And then, just when I was gonna post this, fan fiction decides it's gonna take a break! -shakes fist angrily- And editing has been nightmarish! I really don't like this chapter one bit and I was trying to improve it but I don't think I did a very good job. -hangs head in shame-

**Fic in planning. **So, in other news I've been thinking of doing a Fruits Basket fic. Check out the note at the bottom of my profile for more info on that.

**Second last thing** I must do: **TO MY REVIEWER DMD! **You didn't leave a return address! -cries- But that's okay! -nods- Because I have the power of author notes! So…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW! Yes, you did spell _phenomenal_ wrong but hey, that's the way I would have spelt it so whatever. And I do feel really privileged! WOOHOO! I was really happy to hear that you thought Hilary might be up because I love it when you're reading something and you want something to happen and then it does! So I'm glad my fic could to that for you! -hugs- Next time leave a return addie okay! -smiles-

**Last thing. **Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I now have three pages of reviews! You've made me so happy! -glomps you all- There are too many people to thank so I'll just go with a few of you. AngelOfDarkness (go check out her fic, it rocks), Spiritual Energy (who reviewed basically the minute I posted chap 3, YOU ROCK SE), LNP (who I've been horrible to by not reviewing her fic for ages, I'm sorry!) and finally yuki-aki-sasa (my good friend and loyal reviewer, check out her KaiOC and TalaOC stories).

Wow. That was a long author note. I'll let you get to the story now. R & R!

* * *

**One Big Happy Team.**

Kaoru heard the announcers talking about the upcoming bladers and smiled.

"Do I know them?" asked Brad, for AJ had just spent a little while telling the audience how he knew one of the bladers who would play in the next match.

"I reckon you do Brad." Answered AJ adding to the mystery.

"Well let's get on with this then, I wanna know who it is!"

"Okay!" said AJ loudly, "Then ladies and gentle men please welcome Mark Taros and…HILARY TATIBANA!"

Kaoru heard the Audience gasp and watched as all attention turned to the wings. It was almost like what had happened when she herself was announced only bigger because only the BladeBreakers had known her and almost the entire bladeing community knew who Hilary was.

Kaoru saw Hilary standing in the wings with a smile on her face and her pink and white blade in her hand. She had a look about her that said she meant business and Kaoru was glad that she didn't have to face the other girl right now.

"H-Hilary?" asked Ray from beside Kaoru and she smirked.

"Amazing isn't it?" asked Tyson, though he didn't sound very amazed.

Ray looked over to Kaoru and Tyson and noticed the slight smiles on each of their faces. "You knew didn't you?" he asked almost accusingly.

"Uh, well, maybe." Tyson admitted and rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly.

"Okay, what else are you keeping from us?" Ray was angry now.

Hilary soaked up the newfound attention and walked purposefully towards Max.

"Hey." She said to him. Max only gaped more, for now, hearing her voice, there was no way it could possibly be disputed that that was indeed Hilary.

"O-kay, since when do you blade?" he asked her.

She only smirked and shrugged.

"BLADERS READY?" came the ever-common starting tone from DJ Jazzman. Hilary nodded and pulled out a pink launcher that had obviously been custom made as it was bigger than normal and sported a fanged dragonhead on the front. "THEN 3…" between the fangs was where Hilary placed her blade as Max struggled to thread his ripcord, still overcome by surprise. "2…" He looked up and noticed for the first time that her blade was very different, "1…"

The attack ring was light pink, as was the base. The weight ring was painted a sparkly white and Max figured it must be nail polish. The thing about it that was unusual was that instead of attack edges it had white spheres coming out from it.

Max had never seen a blade like that. He had never expected to, especially in the hands of Hilary.

"LET IT RIP!" screamed Jazzman and both blades were catapulted from their respective launchers and into the bey-dish.

* * *

--Flashback--

Kenny sat in his workroom at Tyson's dojo. His mother had refused to let him turn his own room into a place for experiments and data. Or the laundry, or the washroom and she had been positively horrified when he had suggested doing so to the kitchen.

So Kenny's bladeing work had been moved to a place where his mother had no restrictions over him, or at least very little. Tyson's Dojo.

In fact the first time Kenny met Kaoru he had been in the very same room.

Today, however, was about a month from then and Kenny was working on the new proto type. It wasn't meant for Tyson, like most of his others, in fact it wasn't really meant for anyone. He knew no one whose style quite matched that of the new blade.

Kenny was actually quite worried, for he knew a blade like this almost had to be someone's first because it would be impossible to adjust to it after bladeing with a regular blade. And Kenny did not like the idea of giving his new creation to an amateur.

Suddenly he heard the ever-common beginnings of an argument from outside. Tyson and Hilary were at it again. Something about this argument however, piqued Kenny's interest and he left his work for a moment to go and watch the proceedings.

"What do you mean I know nothing?" asked Hilary angrily.

"I mean you know nothing! Duh! How can you tell me how to blade? You don't even know how to yourself!" Tyson was quick to reply.

"Well that's because Beyblade is a stupid game! It's like spinning-top battles, how lame!"

"You wouldn't know though 'cause you've never tried it!"

"Well maybe I would but you don't want to teach me! You never even thought maybe I wanted to learn! You're always too busy Beybladeing to notice that I'm left out!" Hilary yelled then suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. "I mean…"

"What?" asked Tyson quietly, for their argument had just taken an unexpected turn.

"I-I, just…"

"You wanna learn how to blade?" asked Tyson, and Hilary nodded shyly.

Kaoru, who had been watching from the walkway, laughed and smiled.

"Then we'll teach you," she said.

Kenny smirked. There may just be a way to test his new invention without trusting an unknown beginner.

--End Flashback--

* * *

Hilary smirked as her blade dashed around the dish, connecting occasionally with Draciel. Max had gotten over the initial shock of finding out Hilary could Beyblade and had moved into the shock of seeing how good she was.

"That's it, you can do it!" cheered Hilary to her blade. Her voice snapped Max out of his thoughts.

"Oh no you don't!"

* * *

--Flashback--

"NO!" cried Hilary as yet again her blade hit the ground and stopped. "I don't understand! Why can't I get it!"

"Calm down." Kaoru told her, "It'll come, you're still a beginner remember?"

"Right." She sighed.

- - - - -

The now customised pink and white blade met the tough ground of the forest floor and kept spinning. Slowly it spun and eventually wore itself out. Coming to a stop, it fell to the side with a soft thud.

"I-I did it." Hilary breathed, astonished. Since she began she had only successfully sustained two launches and both had been with either Tyson or Kaoru holding her from behind or putting her arms, hips and feet in the right direction for her. This time she had done it all by herself.

There was silence and then, "I DID IT!" yelled Hilary and jumped joyously up into the air. "I did it!" she exclaimed turning happily to her friends. "I did it."

Kaoru laughed and ran to hug the happy girl. "Yeah," she said, "You did it."

Hilary turned to Tyson then and the boy wrapped her in a hug. She didn't hesitate and hugged him back happily. Both suddenly realised what they were doing and pulled apart embarrassedly, a light blush on both of their cheeks. "I did it." Hilary whispered and Tyson smiled and nodded.

Kaoru laughed, "So, ready to go again?"

--End Flashback--

* * *

"Wow Hilary, I'm really impressed! I had no idea you could blade, let alone so well!" said Max cheerily

"Thanks!" beamed Hilary, "Do you think I'm good enough to get onto the team?"

"Um, I dunno, I guess so. You seem pretty strong, but I have to warn you, so far, I've only been warming up."

"Phew," breathed Hilary, "I was beginning to worried that I'd beat you really badly and embarrass you!" and with that her blade put on a burst of power and collided with his, very nearly knocking it off balance.

* * *

--Flashback--

Hilary's blade hit the ground hard

"Go!" she commanded, "Go attack."

The way Tyson had explained it sounded so easy, but it was anything but. _Just think about what you want your Beyblade to do. Concentrate on it, don't let it slip from your mind then channel it into your blade. You can even say it out loud if it will help._

"Come on! Attack that tree, hit it! Why won't you do what I ask you stupid blade?" Hilary sank to her knees as her blade attempted an attack and failed, instead doing a rather wobbly U-turn. "Well, at least with a bit more practice we'll have retreating down." said Hilary, defeated, as she watched her blade come to a slow, uncertain stop.

She picked it up. "Why can't I do it?" she asked herself, "Am I really as hopeless as Tyson says?"

Hilary had left the camp at 4:00am that morning, without waking up the others. She had decided that when they saw her next she would have mastered attacking. Unfortunately it was already 6:00 and very little progress had been made.

She stood up and fitted her blade onto her launcher for what seemed like the hundred thousandth time.

"Well," she said, "He can call me hopeless but I won't let him have the satisfaction of calling me a quitter as well!" she launched the blade and this time it sped towards the tree at top speed. "Wait! What are you doing? I didn't even say to attack yet!"

Nevertheless the pink and white blade made sharp contact with the tree and then pulled away promptly, stopping and falling down.

"Okay, I'm confused." Hilary came to sit besides her blade, "You don't attack when I tell you to but do when I don't? And then you just stop and fall down? If I didn't know any better I would almost say that was intentional. Like payback for yelling at you." Hilary picked up the blade and studied it suspiciously.

"Just as well I do know better then, isn't it?" she shook her head, "and yet I'm talking to a Beyblade."

- - - - -

"Alright!" Hilary cheered happily as her blade whizzed back and forth colliding with various things in its path. "Now attack that tree!" she concentrated on the tree and on her attack and as intended her blade sped forward and hit the tree full force. The spherical attack edges leaving little dents in the side.

"YEAH! Go Hilary!" Kaoru yelled encouragement from the sidelines. "You can do it."

"Defence!" commanded Hilary and her blade immediately stopped spinning and sat in waiting. Hilary piked up a stone and threw it at the blade. It hit one of the spheres and bounced off, apparently leaving no damage. But Hilary knew better and sure enough her Beyblade came to a stop moments later.

"You're getting better." Tyson told her and smiled.

Hilary smiled too, for he was right. She was getting better.

--End Flashback--

* * *

"Go Draciel! Attack!" called Max and his blade sped towards Hilary's and hit it hard. However, it appeared that Draciel had just bounced off. "Wha-What?" stammered Max.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk." Said Hilary clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "I would have thought you'd be smart enough to have a look at my blade before the match, but I guess not. Well, just 'cause you're my friend, I suppose I'll show you." And with that she slowly waved her hand above the bey-dish and over her blade. It slowed but didn't stop.

"Whoa! How did you do that?" asked Max.

"It's called an 'Advance Gear'." Hilary told him and smirked, "It was Kenny's winter project, that and this blade. You know, something to do when the days got cold and snowy. It gives the blade more balance (among other things) so it lets you control your speed down to just a bit lower than this. Kenny'll probably put one in your blade soon enough. But that's not the point.

"See those spheres on my blade?" The pink Beyblade was now going slow enough to see detail and Max nodded, "They're called 'Pulse Spheres'. They're the latest in technology. Kenny made the prototype a while ago but only finished them recently. You can't use them unless you've learnt with them. Like me."

"But what do they do?" Max was confused but also interested. He had wondered what they were for. He had never seen them before. At least now he understood why Kenny gave them to Hilary instead of Tyson.

"In attack mode they become hard and almost impenetrable, in defence they are jelly-like and deflect any blow, they do somewhat compromise on speed because they make the blade less streamlined but they weigh barely anything so they don't take away from the endurance."

"That's so cool!" Max exclaimed and then, "But isn't it a little unfair? I mean we all worked really hard to hone our various talents and you just got it handed to you."

Hilary smiled but shook her head. "It's not that simple Max, I wish it were! If you think the 'Pulse Spheres' make me anywhere near as good as you in defence or Tyson in attack, then think again. These things are nearly impossible to master, I can barely use them as it is, let alone properly! What ever I got handed to me, I made up with how hard I worked to use these. Okay?"

Max nodded, "Okay."

* * *

--Flashback--

"I GIVE UP!" exclaimed an exhausted Hilary, falling to the ground in defeat. "This blade of yours is great and everything, Chief, but it's not worth dying for!"

"You're not going to die Hil." Kaoru tried to reason, "Come on, lets give it another try, k?"

"NO! Not Okay!" Hilary said angrily and stood up to face her. "I'm basically drowning in my own sweat, Kaoru! Or was it my blood or my tears, I have no idea, I really lost track of it a long time ago. All I know is I hurt and I burn and it's just not worth it!"

She began to walk away when suddenly two pairs of equally sweaty, bloody arms wrapped around her from behind. "Don't give up on me now Hils." Tyson pleaded.

Hilary closed her eyes and tried to forget about all of it. Tried to forget she was covered in dirt and blood and sweat and who knew what else. She tried to concentrate on the fact that Tyson had his arms around her middle and his nose in her neck. Tried to concentrate on the things he was saying.

"Don't walk away. We've come so far. Not much further. Don't go now."

He had insisted on training with her. He said she would need his help. He had promised that today would be the day she would make it.

Hilary relaxed against him.

"It hurts." she said.

"I know, but you'll make it, you're strong."

Hilary felt tears burn in the back of her eyes and turned to Tyson, throwing her arms around his neck. For a moment he was unsure but then hugged her back tightly. She cried silently into his neck.

"I won't give up." She said and then pulled away form him, drying her eyes and looking into his. "I won't." Tyson nodded and Hilary picked up her blade, fitting it into her launcher. "I won't give up!" She threaded the rip cord and launched the blade.

"I WILL NEVER GIVE UP! I REFUSE TO GIVE UP!" and just as she said this both she and her blade and Tyson and his Dragoon were illuminated with a pale white light.

A column of pink flame shot from Dragoon's bit chip and straight for Hilary. Her eyes widened.

--End Flashback--

* * *

"Look at this." Said Kenny to the others. They looked at his laptop screen where Hilary's stats were. "She's doing really well."

"Sure is!" Tyson agreed proudly. Kaoru smiled.

"Poor Max," she sighed, "He has no idea what he's up against.

"Mmm, this will be close." Kenny nodded.

"Really? Is Hilary actually that strong?" asked Ray, and the others nodded absent-mindedly. Kai who was sitting with them now, but not looking at the laptop screen, nodded also. "How do you know?" Ray asked him and the others looked up, wondering the same thing.

"Can't you tell?" Kai addressed Ray, "Didn't you see the way she launched? Or how much control she has over that blade?" He looked back to the battle. "I can't say if she'll win, but I can't say if Max will either."

"Oh. Wow." Ray was impressed.

Max was beginning to get frustrated. He was a world champion; it shouldn't be this hard to beat a girl who had been learning for only six months. He needed an edge, some raw power. He needed Draciel.

"You're a good blader Hilary, a really good blader. But there's just one extra little factor you forgot to take into account."

"And what's that?" Asked Hilary playing along.

"My Bitbeast. DRACIEL!" And as he called its name the giant purple turtle bit rose from its bit chip and loomed in front of Hilary. Max smirked as he saw Hilary's eyes widen a bit. And then she smiled.

It was a sort of a smirk, but not exactly. It was happier. She was enjoying this, every moment of it. Enjoying the fact that he had called on his Bitbeast, enjoying the fact that he thought he could beat her by doing so. Couldn't he? Max's smirk fell.

"Why aren't you worried? You're going to lose. Why are you so calm?" Max asked, but he had a feeling he didn't want to know.

Hilary now switched her attention from admiring Draciel to regarding Max with something akin to…amusement?

She sighed. "Once again you've underestimated me Max." _NO, she couldn't… _"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't have a Bitbeast?"

"I-I…" Max honestly couldn't believe it.

"Well I do."

An up close view of this battle was being broadcast on the large television sets above the stadium and that was why, the instant Hilary revealed this, the entire stadium filled with a collective gasp.

Hilary shot a quick look behind her to where the BladeBreakers sat, mouths hanging agape. Or at least Ray's was. Kaoru was smiling, Tyson was smirking, Kenny nodding affirmatively and Kai simply raising a surprised eyebrow. Hilary looked at Max again.

"So, since we're bringing out the big guns now, I would like to introduce, to you Max, to the BladeBreakers and to the entire Blading community… My Bitbeast…DRAYLIA!"

And, as if in slow motion, Hilary raised her arm and her Bit rose with it. It's beautiful body arced upward and rose gracefully from the blade to a stadium of amazed stares, several hundred dropped beverages, a multitude of dropped chips and/or nachos and, of course, the exaggerated hanging mouth and dinner plate sized eyes of Max.

* * *

--Flashback--

The great column of pink flame sped towards Hilary at top speed. Anticipating impact the girl brought her hands up to guard her face and clamped her eyes shut.

"HILARY!" she heard Tyson call just before the pink flames engulfed her.

She could feel nothing and hear nothing. Her body felt numb and heavy and she found she couldn't move. There was no ground beneath her; just the vast expanse of pink. However, it didn't seem to shock Hilary that she was standing when there was nothing to stand on. She had immediately accepted that this world wasn't her own and that the rules that applied in this world were different from the ones that applied in her own.

That was why she wasn't terribly surprised when a great pink and white dragon appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

The creature looked remarkably like Dragoon except for its colour and a few other features. Its face was more square than triangular and its tail was not pointed like Dragoon's but flared. It also had a pair of white dragon wings on its back and seemed to be hovering in the air rather than standing, which was Dragoon's preferred position.

Hilary thought it was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

"Who are you?" she whispered, not really expecting to be answered but at the same time hoping she would be.

"I'm a bit beast."

"A bit beast?"

"Yes. You may call me Draylia."

Hilary was beginning to understand what Kaoru had meant the time she told them that bit beasts weren't talkative.

"So then...are you my Bit beast?"

"Yes."

Hilary nodded. "But you came from Tyson's beyblade…and you look like Dragoon. Are you his sister?"

The dragon regarded her in amusement. "How perceptive, but no, I'm not Dragoon's sister. Or not really."

"What? Not really? What's that meant to mean?"

The dragon averted its eyes from her. "It is…complicated." Looking back at her it noticed the girl's eyes large and questioning. Obviously she wanted an answer. "I will tell you what I can but I don't promise you will understand. Listen hard. A spirit has two choices to make."

Hilary's eyes narrowed and she nodded, remembering sometime ago when she had heard that the bitbeasts were sacred spirits.

"The first choice applies only to powerful spirits. Separation. As a powerful Dragon spirit Dragoon had to make this decision. To remain as one and serve eternity alone or to separate, be less powerful but have companionship. Dragoon chose the second and I was born. So no, I am not his sister nor am I his daughter as you would assume. The most accurate title would be his copy, or double, but that too is incorrect as, though I retain many of his physical features, we are very different."

"Uh-huh."

"The second choice is existence and it applies to all spirits but The Twelve. As the title would imply this is how a spirit choses to exist. There are two options. The first is to remain in the spirit world and govern one's being, the second is to come here and form a partnership with a human. Once again Dragoon chose the second."

"But then…shouldn't you be Tyson's bit beast as well as Dragoon?" Hilary blinked.

"It would seem that way, but no. I am Dragoon's double but I am not attached to him. We are separate beings and as such need separate partners. However, there is a bond that connects us and we had no wish to be separated too far. So I decided to wait until the time came when there was a strong blader close to Tyson who did not have a bit beast."

How strange today seemed. Hilary had woken up miserable, knowing harsh training was the name of the game and had done as she had to do. She had never imagined she would be heading home with a bit beast and a minimal knowledge of spirits and the like. She wondered if Kaoru knew, it wouldn't surprise her. Then again very little would surprise Hilary now.

"This is real right?" she asked and the bit beast nodded. "Okay. Well can I go back to my friends now to tell them?" Once again the beast nodded and then it vanished.

Hilary could feel the world slowly dissipate. "Draylia." Its name sounded nice when she said it, thought Hilary, just as the space around her became black and then vanished entirely.

"HILARY! Hilary, are you okay?" Her first sight was Tyson. Brown eyes wide in panic and face covered in dirt.

"Tyson." She said happily. "Look, I got a bit beast." And she managed to hold up her blade to show him before she lost consciousness.

--End Flashback--

* * *

"It's…it's…Dragoon?"

A dead silence filled the stadium.

"Your bit beast, it's like…a pink Dragoon." Max stated.

"Mhmm!" Hilary smiled. "Draylia is Dragoons double." she said simply, "And she's not exactly like him you know…"

Indeed Max was starting to see some key differences.

"DRAYLIA!" commanded Hilary all of a sudden, "Go, attack Draciel."

Max barely had time to recover as the great pink dragon charged straight for him.

"DRACIEL! GRAVITY CONTROL!" The great turtle met Hilary's bit head on and a great Hurricane of water spun up around them. _Draylia must be a wind bit, just like dragoon._ Realised Max.

"STRIKE TYPHOON!" called Hilary. And with a great burst of power the water hurricane dissipated and the stadium was filled with an eerie silence.

"IT'S…A TIE?" announced Brad hardly daring to belive it.

Both bladers were breathing heavily, slowly becoming aware of the outcome. "It's a tie." Max repeated. Then he smiled and bent down to pick up his blade. He walked across to Hilary who was picking up hers too. "Great battle." He said.

Hilary nodded, "Yeah, great battle. We should do it again some time."

Max grinned. "For sure!"

"Well folks, we have just witnessed something truly remarkable. The little recognised, unofficial cheerleader of the BladeBreakers has appeared today to blade and tie against Max, master of defence. And, I must say, I have a good feeling about this girl's future. Surely the BladeBreakers will be just longing to snap her up!"

"I hear ya Brad. But the show must go on, now let's welcome our next bladers…wait where are they going?"

The BladeBreakers were starting to walk back out into the wings, Hilary had already disappeared into the challengers lounge.

"Ah…Right, the BladeBreakers have just informed us that they will be taking a minute to discuss the previous match, so take a minute to check out our extensive range of food. We have Japanese, Chinese, American and Russian to commemorate the BladeBreakers heritage…"

"So what do you think?" asked Tyson, flopping down on a plush lounge as the commentators voices faded. "Is she in?"

"Of course!" stated Max, hurriedly, "Did you see how well she blades, I don't know how you guys taught her that but well done."

Tyson laughed. "It wasn't easy."

"We can't make any decisions until we see the others, but by the looks of it…" Kai trailed off just as Hilary came bounding into the room. She catapulted her self at Kaoru who caught the girl in a tight hug and laughed.

"You did so well, Hils." She said.

"Yeah, you totally rocked." Tyson grinned. Hilary smiled and then flopped down onto the lounge beside him to give him a quick hug.

"So what do you guys think? Am I good enough?"

"Maybe," answered Kai, "we'll see."

Hilary grinned. "Well, a maybe is better than a 'Hell No any day.'"

* * *

"And so we've come to the end of our Mini Tournament, seems like only yesterday it began." Cried AJ Topper dramatically.

"It was yesterday." Replied Brad Best.

"Oh, so it was."

"None the less, it's come and gone and it's finally time to find out the results."

"Did the BladeBreakers find what they were looking for? If so, who exactly is it?"

"That's what we're all wondering AJ, but there's only one way to find out. BladeBreakers?"

"Hey there!" Tyson yelled into his mike enthusiastically. "I'd love to tell you all who's in and who's out but unfortunately Kai's the captain so he'll be reading out the results of the Mini Tournament…spoilsport." Tyson passed the mike to Kai just in time to catch an unimpressed 'Hn'.

"We expected more when we asked for experienced, capable Bladers." began Kai and the others rolled their eyes. "However there were a select few that impressed us." He added and read out a small list of promising bladers. "Although we think you all have a lot of potential you're not quite right for our team. In fact there were only two bladers who really stood out." A murmur ran through the stadium. "So, for their unique abilities and raw talent the BladeBreakers would like to officially welcome…Hilary Tatibana and Kaoru Kumori to the team." A roar rose from the crowd.

Hilary took Kaoru's hand and smiled. Together they walked up to the stadium where the others stood and waved at the crowd who cheered and whistled.

DJ Jazzmans voice rang out over it all, "Let me be the first to present…The BLADEBREAKERS!"

* * *

Tyson switched off the TV. "Go us!" He cheered.

Max laughed. "Yeah, we rock!"

"For sure, but we only have six bladers. We wanted eight, remember." Ray reminded them.

"Quality. Not quantity." Muttered Kai before standing to clear the table.

Kaoru blinked. "I think that may have just been a compliment."

"Yeah." breathed Hilary. "I think you're onto something."

"Don't get too exited. You still have a fair way to go before either of you are on par with the rest of the team." Kai told them, sitting down again.

"You're such a party-pooper." Kaoru pouted.

"Hey Kaoru?" Max asked.

"Yeah Maxie?"

"You're Tyson's sister aren't you?"

"Um…sure I guess. Legally anyway."

"But your name's Kaoru Kumori."

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't it be Kaoru Granger? Even if you were adopted you should have still gained that name. Right?"

Kaoru blinked and looked at Tyson who was in turn blinking at her. They smiled.

"Kaoru can't remember anything about her parents or where she's from or what her life was like back then." Tyson informed them. "The only thing she had was her name and her blade and Aura. So we let her keep them. It seemed fair."

Kaoru smiled lightly as the others surveyed her with mixed emotions. Everything from concern, to pity, to wonder, courtesy of Kai who seemed amazed by something or other. Kaoru blinked.

"What is it?" She asked him.

"Ah…no. Nothing." He stood and walked away.

"I guess Kai's going to bed." Ray muttered quietly.

"Yeah."

"You don't think I said anything to upset him do you?" Kaoru asked, puzzled by her team mate's actions.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Max smiled. "He's just like that sometimes."

"Mmm." Muttered Hilary, leaning on Tyson's shoulder subconsciously. "I'm tired."

"Yeah." He agreed, not noticing her head snuggled up to his shoulder. "Let's go to bed."

Hilary yawned. "K." And then noticing the smirks and suspiciously glinting eyes of the others asked. "What?"

"Oh nothing." Ray smiled, looking away.

"Have a nice sleep you two."

"Okay." Hilary stood up, looking at the others with confusion. "If you say so." Tyson stood up next to her and they made their way out of the room.

"They so like each other." Kaoru smirked.

"Definitely."

"Do you think we should try and set them up?"

"Nah. Let 'em get together at their own pace. We'll give them a push if they need it." Max nodded decidedly.

"Alright then. I'm off." Ray got up.

"Yeah, me too."

"K. Night you two!" Kaoru waved after them.

Left alone in the vast dining room, she stood and made her way outside into the quiet blackness.

* * *

Kaoru sat upon the fence of the dojo. It was calm out there and she had always loved it. Almost directly under her was the bey-dish and along a bit was the little tree her mother had sat under so often.

We're on their team now. She thought to herself.

_Is this what you wanted?_ She heard Aura ask.

Yeah, this way I can be with Tyson and travel. And you'll get used more than once a month, huh?

_That's what I'm afraid of._

Kaoru laughed inwardly, "Lazy", she mumbled.

"Who's lazy?"

"Huh, what?" Kaoru turned around to find Kai standing watching her tiredly. He was dressed in red boxer shorts and a tight black Singlet that showed every muscle. Kaoru blushed and was suddenly very thankful for the protective cover of darkness. His chest was very well toned and his hand, mid-swipe in his hair was left resting in his fringe so that some of it spiked up. He looked good. He looked very, very good.

"Who're you calling lazy?"

"Oh! No, not you. I was talking to Aura!"

"Aura's lazy?" asked Kai and his brows furrowed in confusion. Kaoru nearly laughed at how he seemed not to understand her at all. He was quite different when he was just waking up.

"Did I wake you?" She asked.

"No. Tyson did." Kaoru smiled, she should've guessed. Kai began to walk over to her.

"You gonna come up here?" Kaoru asked, looking down at him.

"Nah, too tired." He answered and instead sat up against the wall. Kaoru jumped down to sit beside him.

For a while there was silence.

"It's kinda nice, isn't it? When it's all dark and quiet. There's nothing to see and nothing to hear, it's almost like you're alone in the world." She mused.

"Why would you want to be alone."

She blinked, "…Well, that's true. I guess I'm never really alone. I have Aura. And same with you, you have Dranzer. And now we both have the team, right?"

"…"

"And…well, you have me of course, which is always good." She stood hurriedly and laughed. Nervously she smiled and extended a hand to him. He took it and let her pull him up. "So, I guess it's time for sleep. You look really tired Kai and I know I am. If Tyson's snoring then I'll just stuff a pillow in his mouth. It'll either shut him up of wake him up. Or kill him. Either way it works for us, right?"

Kai chuckled.

For a while both lay awake before Kaoru slowly drifted off.

_Well, you have me of course…_It was those words. Those little meaningless words, which she had said so lightly, that resounded in the deepest caverns of his mind. In places that hadn't been reached for so long they spread colour and sound.

Kai wondered what would possess her to say something like that. To him of all people. But for some reason, he was glad. Because…it was nice to know someone was there for you. And Kai wanted to remember it. He wanted to always know she would be there for him.

* * *

I HATE THIS CHAPTER! -STABS IT! MULTIPLE TIMES!- DIE CHAPTER, DIE!

I'm so sorry for that chappie. It had to be done but I wish it had been a bit less boring. Luckily my next few chapters (5 and 6) look like they'll be a bit better. Actually I'm really exited about chapter 5 because, judging by what I've written so far, it's gonna be one of my favs. And I hope yours too! -grins-

WOAH! -gawks- No authors notes. That's…AMAZING! I'M IN SHOCK! -dies-

So. Two things. One, if you're a Kyo x Tohru fan then please go check out kawaiichristianne's Silent Rain. It's really good!

Two. If you're wondering what's happened to Boy's Are Stupid then worry not. It's finished and I _am _editing it but yeah. I had to do this and then for all the reasons above too. So it's coming. Please be patient.

OH NO! THREE THINGS! Third thing: If you haven't seen Studio Ghibli's "Whisper of The Heart" then let me strongly recommend it! It rocks and I love it to pieces.

And that about wraps things up. So review please. PLEASE! PWEEEEEZEEE! -puppy dog eyes- I'll give you a hug!

REVIEW!


	5. AND THUS! The Dreaded Training

-Dances- It's only three or four days late! I'm so proud of me! -Throws confetti- 

**IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE! PLEASE READ!**

Okay. In this chapter and the next particularly I will begin hinting at the later plot and that is why I believe it is an opportune time to tell you the meaning of the title:

De Mei Animus means From My Soul. However you wish to interpret that is your own choice, I myself am confused as to what exactly I meant it to mean for the story…hehe…not to say that it doesn't have a meaning! It does, believe me, the thing is, it has many. I can't remember which one I initially meant it to translate to but I suppose it doesn't matter. In fact, it is perhaps best that the reader determines its meaning for themselves.

Next I would like to go over some pronunciation (my, this is a formal note isn't it?).

Kaoru Kumori: Kay-or-oo Kom-or-ee

Draylia: Dray-lee-ah

Aura: Or-ah

I think that's all, please tell me if I missed some.

**Now onto unimportant stuff! Woohoo!**

**A bit of advertising: **During the course of chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 expect to learn all sorts of stuff you never knew you wanted to know about…KAI! Does Kai ever laugh? Can Kai cook? Why is Kai's hair like that? What is the truth about BioVolt? Is Kai ticklish? What is Kai's favourite colour? What were Kai's parents like? What is Kai's favourite flavour Ice Cream? How fast is it possible to get Kai undressed?

THESE QUESTIONS AND MANY MORE_ WILL_ BE ANSWERED!

**This Chapter is dedicated to…-drum roll-…ANGEL OF DARKNESS 83. Step right up AOD and collect your prize! An all expenses paid trip to Hawaii! You may take one friend!** -Nudges- Oooo! Take me! Take me!

Hehe, no, in all seriousness, Aod is a great friend of mine who has thoroughly inspired me to persist in getting this chapter finished! Every time I was like "Blah! I can't be bothered!" I would find a pretty little PM waiting for me in my inbox with all amount of craziness bursting from within, helping me to get up off my ass and do some writing! -Glomps- THANK YOU AOD! This chapter is for you!

And thank you to all my wonderful reviewers who gave me such great reviews for a chapter which I, honestly, didn't think was up to scratch. Thank you, thank you, thank you! -Bows- I truly hope you all enjoy this!

* * *

**AND THUS! The Dreaded Training.**

Kaoru screwed up her face in anger. She just couldn't go to sleep. How had she been so stupid? How had she just let it slip out?

'_And…well you have me of course!'_

Then, she remembered, she had scrambled to her feet and said something about being sleepy. Kai had hopped up too and come inside. Maybe he hadn't even noticed her saying it. Maybe…But what if he had? He'd probably think she was some fan girl and never want to be friends with her.

But _she_ wanted to be friends with _him_. She had always…_idolised_ him. She wasn't some fanatic, not even close, but she admired him and his bladeing skills. Truthfully, the day when she had faced him in the Minnie Tournament had probably been one of the best in her life. After all, how many people get to face they're idol in the event they idolise them for?

He couldn't know that though, or else he'd never let her in. The others had welcomed her with arms wide open and she had become close to them already, developing a strong friendship with Max through they're common love of all things sugar, and a brother/sisterly bond with Ray who, though he was not even a year older than her, seemed so mature and kind that he could have passed for eighteen easily. But Kai was less easy to convince.

She was aware that he liked to keep his distance and that he didn't trust people easily. But that was the thing, for some reason, and she had no idea what that reason was, he _had_ trusted her. So at least that was one bridge crossed and as for the 'distance' she would keep pressuring him to spend time with her.

She didn't expect to end up best friends with him or anything like that but she wanted to be able to talk to him about bladeing and about other stuff too. She wanted him to talk to her. She hoped they would become good enough friends that she could tell him she admired him without him thinking she was a fan girl. But the whole 'You have me' thing had simply been too much, too soon. Now she may have ruined her chance to be his friend forever.

'_It's probably for the best.'_

Kaoru growled. _Go Away_, she thought to her bit.

'_You know I'm right. The more friends you have, the more people you stand to fall in love with and the more people that stand to fall in love with you. When that happens…'_

_I know. Now go away, I don't want to talk about this now_.

'_Kaoru',_ sighed Aura seeing the girl role over and slam a pillow over her ears (as though that would help), '_listen, it's not like this isn't hard for me too but we have to stick together - '_

_HARD FOR YOU?_ The noise resounded through the caverns of Kaoru's mind, _Hard for you? You don't even have emotions, don't you dare tell me this is hard for you!_

'_It is hard for me to see you in pain.'_

…Kaoru was silent. _I'm sorry._

'_This is what was chosen for you. This is what was chosen for us.' _The bit beast said knowingly, as if it was a line memorised by heart.

_You sound like Oujahi_. Kaoru commented dryly. (1)

Aura chuckled. '_Get some sleep, I sense change in the morning. Make sure to wake up early.'_

_Alright._

'_Goodnight mistress.'_

_And don't call me that!.._ Kaoru exclaimed indignantly, then added, _Goodnight Aura._

* * *

Loud snoring penetrated the bus. A roaring, moaning, incessant rumble. But it wasn't Tyson. Amazingly.

"Since when does s_he _snore?" asked Kai from his place at the front of the shuttle bus. They were travelling to the training grounds today to do they're first real practice for the tournament. And they're first practice as a team.

Kaoru, usually bright and bouncy by this late in the day, was sleeping. She had awoken at 6:00 that morning to find Kai awake and packed. So she had packed too and they had left four hours later when they had finally been able to wake Tyson.

Kaoru had entered the bus first, claimed the large back seat, lain down and slept. And two minutes previous she had begun to snore.

Tyson laughed, "She doesn't, just in the daytime!"

"Well do you think we could shut her up then?" Asked Max who sat only a seat in front of Kaoru and was receiving the full effects of the snoring.

"No." Said Tyson. "Let her sleep, she hasn't been getting much rest lately." Kai looked back at the boy in wonder. From what he could tell Tyson had barely talked to Kaoru since Kai had arrived. That shared brief conversations but nothing really intimate in which Kaoru would talk about her disability to sleep as of late. Yet somehow Tyson had known, without words.

"Probably 'cause she has to sleep in the same room as you!" Hilary told him and Tyson growled ready to argue back. However, before he could the bus came to a roaring stop.

"NOOOOOOO! AHHHHHH!" These were the sounds that filled a now very quiet bus in the place of heavy snoring. "AHHHHH…" the scream continued long after Kaoru had hit the ground. She lay on the floor of the left side of the bus between the back and second back seats. Only her legs were visible and they were flailing madly.

All watched her with fascinated silence as she stopped screaming to catch her breath and then started again. Hilary and Tyson exchanged a glance. Suddenly it stopped.

"I'm not falling…I'm alive…I'M ALIVE!" And Kaoru was up. She spun around continuously, repeating 'I'm alive! I'm alive!' over and over.

"You okay Ru?" Asked Tyson, his voice wrapped in amusement.

"Oh, Tyson." She sighed happily, completely ignoring the others, or perhaps not noticing them. "I had the strangest dream." She placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Now lets see…I was in the forest and I was singing and then…then Hilary came along, but she was a fairy and she told me to follow her so I did and she led me to this cliff and um…yeah! Then she disappeared and I was looking for her and Ray was a cat and then Kai pushed me of the cliff!" She smiled.

Silence reined.

Then Kaoru began to laugh and the others followed suit. Kai, however, sat in a stunned stupor. His head suddenly fell forward and onto the seat back in front of him. Unbelievable, this girl was just unbelievable.

"OH, Kai are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Fine," he told her, "just fine."

"Good to hear." Kaoru flopped down next to him. "Good morning Kai!"

"It's afternoon."

"Already?"

"Only three hours ago."

"Oh…I slept for a while, huh?"

"What was your first hint?"

She laughed.

Kai faced away from her. He had thought she was okay, not completely annoying and a good blader but now…He glanced her way again and saw something that surprised him. She had her knees drawn up to her chest and her chin resting on them. But what surprised him the most was the almost forlorn expression on her smiling face.

"What's wrong?" he asked her before he could stop himself.

Kaoru jumped in surprise nearly falling of the seat but grabbing onto Kai's arm at the last second to stop herself.

She laughed, "What do you mean? Nothings wrong." He gave her a disbelieving look.

"You're a bad liar."

She smiled at him sadly and resumed her previous position. "I know." She mumbled quietly.

"So, what's wrong?" He couldn't help it. There was something about her and that sad look that made him want to know. _Need_ to know.

"Oh, it's nothing really! I would just bore you, and it'll be better tomorrow so don't worry." She smiled.

"Tell me." His tone left nothing to discuss, he wasn't giving her a choice.

Kaoru looked at him aware that she would either have to tell him or not talk to him at all. And she could have sworn she had seen a hint of concern flash by in his crimson eyes. Was he actually worried?

"Ah, it's just that I talked to Aura last night…and, well we talked about my friends. See," Kaoru paused. The fact was that that whole talk had started out with him and the prospect of him becoming her friend. Was it wise to be telling him this at all? "Aura was saying that it was best that I didn't make too many more friends because then I have less chance of falling in love. Cause if that happened…well, she's just looking out for my best interests. She knows I don't want to fall in love, so if I don't even get the chance then it makes the whole thing easier!"

"What?" She didn't want to fall in love? But she seemed so full of affection and compassion. She seemed like the type who would devote their whole lives to the one they loved but she didn't want to even meet them. "You don't want to fall in love? But…"

"Well you don't want to either, do you Kai." She cut him off. "But, it makes you sad, doesn't it? Knowing that you'll never feel love like that, wether it's your choice or not. It's a sad thing."

How had she known he wished not to love? Surely he had never told Tyson or the others. And what about the choice? Was it his? Some part of him said 'yes', he was free from Voltaire's control now and could make his own decisions on his own terms, another part argued 'no'. Almost all his life he could remember had been spent with an old man who had told him that love was a foolish idea.

Was it Kaoru's choice? Or was there a reason behind it that was beyond her control?

"HEY LOOK!" Tyson yelled from the back of the bus. "THE TRAINING GROUNDS!" Kaoru brightened instantly jumping up and running up to Tyson.

"Oh, wow, they're so cool!" she exclaimed.

Kai sat at the front still. Not bothering to even show he had heard his blue-haired team mate. His thoughts were still on what Kaoru had said. _It makes you sad, doesn't it?_ Kai had been taught that love was for the weak, taught that it held you back and could be used against you. But…it did make him sad.

He looked back to where Tyson stood. Hilary was beside him with her hand on his shoulder. Her other hand pointed to something off in the distance. Tyson was nodding and smiling.

It made him sad to know he would never feel like that.

Kaoru was kneeling on the same seat as Max looking out over his head with a goofy smile on her face. She looked so happy. But her words still revolved in Kai's mind…

_It's a sad thing._

* * *

Hilary dared not move a muscle. It was her first training session…ever. She was part of the team, Kai was her captain, and she felt an overwhelming duty to prove to them all that she was worthy of this position.

Tyson and Ray stood to the left of her talking animatedly, Max and Kaoru were sitting to her right comparing Beyblades and she didn't know where Kai was. That made her nervous. What if he was watching them, waiting for them to slip up.

"Alright," Hilary's body became even more rigid as Kai came to stand in front of them. Kaoru and Max hopped up and Tyson and Ray fell silent. "We're going to practice really hard today because we haven't had a chance to do so yet. The first round is less than a month away and I want you all to be ready."

Kai looked around. His eyes fell on Kenny. "Have you checked all their blades?"

"All except Kaoru's." The boy confirmed. Kai shot a glare at Kaoru who smiled at him innocently. He held out his hand.

"Let's see." He commanded. Kaoru looked away stubbornly and pouted. "Kaoru." He wasn't letting her get away with disobeying him. He was her captain now.

"She's fine! I can check my own blade you know!" Kai only looked at her sceptically. "Fine." She sighed and held it out for him to see. Kai nodded.

"Alright, we're running. GO!" He pointed in the direction of the trees and the BladeBreakers shot off. Kai ran after them catching up with Hilary who was at the back. "Are you going to be okay?" Kai asked her and Hilary was amazed to find a hint of concern in his otherwise frosty voice. She smiled and nodded.

Kai nodded too and then left her to run to the head of the group were Kaoru and Tyson were setting the pace, neck in neck. Ray and Max jogged just behind conserving their energy where as Tyson and Kaoru looked as if they were having a race. Both were smiling fully, happy at a chance to challenge one another again. Kai ran beside Tyson before slowly pulling ahead.

"Hey Kai." Asked the boy, already panting heavily. "Howlong are we running."

Kai smirked. "Until one of you catch up with me." And with that he pulled away. A few moments longer and Tyson couldn't even see him.

Kaoru laughed. "Something tells me it's going to be a long day."

* * *

Tyson felt as if he were about to die. They had set off running at 4 pm that day, as soon as they arrived at the training grounds, it was now 8:30, rather dark, quiet cold and he was sprawled out in a heap on the grass atop a hill he hadn't realised he'd climbed. What was worse, he had yet to catch up with Kai, which meant training wasn't over.

Kaoru lay across his stomach face down, Max and Ray sat back to back, panting, and somehow Hilary still stood, though she was stooped over and gasping for breath. Kai leaned on a tree not far away. He wasn't looking at them but Tyson could see his shoulders lift and drop with each deep gasping breath and knew that he too was exhausted.

Kai was standing at the top of the hill, looking out upon the beautiful display of vegetation before him, trying to concentrate on anything but the ragged, un-natural beating of his heart. He was happy to realise that home wasn't too far, and happier still to hear the others unknowingly complain about how far they thought it was.

Kai had purposefully turned them back about an hour and a half ago, having carefully predicting how much further he would be able to run and how much his team mates would be able to stand knowing he would be the one to carry them should they collapse.

They had stopped for a break when Kai realised how close they were, in fact, to complete exhaustion. Kai too had been nearly spent, but the view below was calming him and he could feel his energy returning. In fact, Kai was so engrossed in what he saw and trying to calm his heart that he didn't hear footsteps behind him. And it was then that it happened. A delicate hand fell upon the boys shoulder.

"Got you." Gasped Hilary before her remaining energy left her and she collapsed against Kai's sturdy frame. (2)

Kai smiled.

* * *

"Ah." Sighed Tyson as he slipped onto the little deep blue love seat. "God Kai, that was a bit much don't you think?"

"We got back didn't we?"

Tyson rolled his eyes. "Hey Hilary? Are you okay?"

"Mhmm." The girl replied from her position curled up against Max. The two of them were sitting on the sofa. Max sat in the corner pressed up against the cushion and looking embarrassed and Hilary sat with her knees tucked up against her chest and her head pressed against Max's shoulder. She was exhausted.

Kai sat down on the other end of the sofa and watched Ray as the boy moved stiffly around the kitchen. They all sat in the living room of the BBA cabin except for Ray of course who was making dinner in the little kitchen that joined on.

The BBA cabin was a small Dojo like building the BBA owned and rented out to their teams as it was located in the centre of the BBA training grounds. It was composed of four bedrooms, three of which had two single beds and one which had a double bed, a living room with TV, sofa, love-seat, armchair, dining table and adjoined Kitchen, a training room, a bathroom and tools room.

Ray came into the living room. "So, what does everyone want for dinner?" he asked.

"FOOD!" exclaimed Tyson loudly causing everyone, save Kai, to laugh.

"That sort of goes without saying Tyson." Hilary reminded him quietly and the boy laughed sheepishly.

"Well then…grilled fish, and ramen, and curry, and, OH, dombori! Or dumplings. And tempura, I brought the tempura batter mix-" (3)

"Tyson." Kai cut him of warningly.

"Fine, fine…but, ah, Ray? Do you think you could make some yakitori too, please?" (4)

Ray laughed. "Sure Tyson. And next time, I think "Food" will pretty much cover it." Tyson grinned.

Ray returned to the kitchen and Max asked, "Hey, does anyone know where Kaoru is?"

"Mm," Hilary lifted herself off Max to join the conversation, "No, I haven't seen her since we got back. Where is she?"

"Outside, I think." Tyson replied unsurely. "She came inside to get changed then she said…_something_ to me, I think about going out, and I haven't seen her since."

"I suppose it never occurred to you to listen to her?" Asked Kai, giving Tyson a look that meant something along the lines of 'You idiot'.

"Sorry-ee." The boy said and rolled his eyes, "I'll go look for her. Geez."

Kai glared.

"Yo Kaoru? You out…here?" Tyson asked poking his head out the door and freezing in his tracks. His mouth opened slightly and his eyes widened.

Kai rolled his eyes-this was going nowhere-, stood up and made his way to the door followed by Ray, Max and Hilary who were curious as to what Tyson was seeing.

Kaoru sat on the grass at the back of the cabin. Her legs were sprawled in front of her and her arms behind, to prop her up. The evening breeze was catching her hair and the hem of her white summer dress and pulling them away from her in rippling, wavy movements. The evening was strangely bright, lit by a full moon and a million shining stars it bathed Kaoru in soft blue light. But it was not this sight that had the BladeBreakers stunned.

Beside Kaoru sat her Beyblade and emitting from it a clear white light that took the form of a girl, or appeared to. It was only a shape, no detail or colour but it had long hair that flowed in the wind as Kaoru's did and it wore a skirt or dress also.

Kaoru was facing the figure and laughing, eyes closed and shoulders relaxed happily. The figure must have been smiling too.

"It wasn't meant to be funny you know." Or not.

Kaoru calmed down. "No, I suppose not. Still…" She giggled again.

"I WAS SERIOUS!" The figure exclaimed, obviously wishing to be taken as such. "Tyson really _does _look like and 'Unfit Sloth' trying to train."

Kai snorted in laughter.

"'U-Unfit Sloth'?" Tyson echoed questioningly, mouth hanging open in surprise and horror.

Ray and Max both raised an eyebrow in Kai's direction, as it was so unusual for their stoic captain to do anything even remotely resembling laughter. Hilary, on the other hand, just giggled quietly.

"I mean honestly," the figure of light began again, "Did you not see the way his arms dangled in front of his body and swung from side to side as he moved? Or how his eyes were closed but his mouth was open?"

"St-stop!" Kaoru gasped, now laughing uncontrollably. "Stop being so mean, stop making me laugh!"

"I'm not making you laugh. I never said you _had _to. It wasn't even meant to be funny. It's just my honest to god opinion."

Kaoru smirked. "I'm sure."

For some time after, silence reined. Bother girls seemed to be enjoying the silence and the beauty of the moonlit landscape.

"Aura. Why don't we do this more often?" Asked Kaoru, looking at the figure with a soft smile.

"Why don't we talk about Tyson's sloth-like appearance more often? Good question. Yes, this should defiantly be something we do on a regular basis."

Kaoru laughed. "No silly! I mean talking. Just talking, not about fate, not about purpose, or spirits, or love or any of that. Just talking. About stuff."

"Because fate and purpose, spirits, love and all of that stuff is _much_ more important." Aura looked at her, "You know that."

"Mmm." Kaoru sighed with a sad smile, "Yeah, but sometimes I _really_ wish I didn't."

"It can't be helped." Said the Bit beast.

"No."

Silence returned.

"Why did you tell him that?" asked Aura.

"Tell who what?"

"That boy…the porcupine hair one…"

Kaoru choked on a sudden burst of laughter. "KAI! You mean Kai!" She giggled helplessly.

Kai bristled as Tyson and the others (but Tyson especially) burst into laughter as well. "Quiet you idiots!" He barked curious to hear what would be said next.

"Yeah, whatever his name is."

"What did I tell him?"

"That you couldn't fall in love."

"I told him I didn't _want_ to fall in love." Kaoru's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Besides, what's so bad about that? I've told Tyson and Hilary and I would've told Max and Ray too but it just hasn't come up."

"You said 'Cause if that happened…'. You weren't…" She paused, and something akin to fear shone in her eyes, "You weren't actually planning on telling him, were you Kaoru?"

"No. Of course not…"

"And what about telling him it wasn't your choice? Hmm?"

"I didn't say that." She defended herself. "Besides, he's not going to figure it out Aura. Chill."

"But what if he does?"

"He won't." Kaoru mumbled surely.

"If you say so…"

The wind picked up wiping her hair around and making it dance happily.

"Look, I don't know about this boy, Kaoru, he seems…"

Kaoru laughed.

"I get it! You think I like him! Don't you?" She grinned.

"Uh…"

"Well you don't have to worry Aura. If I were going to fall in love with anyone it wouldn't be him! Haven't you seen the way he looks at me?" She laughed, "Like I'm some lower life form!"

"Hmm."

Kai's eyes widened a little. He didn't really treat her like that, did he? He didn't mean to. Well he sort of did but…

…_it wouldn't be him._

_Am I really the sort of person she wouldn't look twice at?_

_Of course I am. And it doesn't matter. I don't care. Why should I?_

"Go and get her." Kai told Tyson and walked back inside.

* * *

A few days of strenuous training later Max woke up to the thought that he most defiantly didn't want to train again today.

* * *

The very same morning in a different room Ray woke up cosy and warm thinking:

"_I really must get up."_

Then:

"_Blow it! I really can't be bothered. Five minutes won't hurt."_

And rolled over and went back to sleep.

* * *

Hilary woke up and pulled the covers up around her nose in an attempt to return to her dream. But didn't. Instead she lay in bed thinking about training that day. She was filled with a peculiar mixture of giddy excitement and over-whelming terror. She wondered what Kai would have them do today.

* * *

In the next bed over, Kaoru awoke. Still awash with memories of the previous day, yet aware enough to wonder about the present.

_I wonder what we'll have for breakfast._

_I wonder what we'll do in training._

_I wonder if it will be harder._

_I wonder if I'll get better._

_I wish we could go swimming._

* * *

Kai awoke to an unpleasant feeling that every thing was as it always was. Normalcy threatened him the moment he set foot out of bed. So instead he remained and devised a plan to up root what was common and plant something new and exiting.

Today would be different if he had a say.

* * *

As per usual, Tyson did not wake up.

* * *

"So…where are we going?" Asked Max.

They had set off walking about twenty minutes ago and Kai refused to tell them where they were going or what they were doing. All he had said was that they'd better bring bathers as they would be getting wet.

"Nowhere."

"What are we doing?" Continued Kaoru.

"Nothing."

"Why are we bringing bathers?" Hilary.

"None of your business."

"Who's idea was it?" Ray.

"Mine."

"How are we getting there?" Finished Tyson and five sweat-dropping heads turned to face him."

"Walking, you dunce."

"Oh. Right."

"Come on." Kaoru urged, poking Kai's cheek much to his annoyance. "Tell me!" She whined.

Kai kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him trying not to notice Kaoru's face centimetres from his own as if the answers to her questions were written on his cheeks, which she seemed so insistent upon poking.

"Te-lll-mee-eee!"

"NO!" He yelled a little louder than intended and was worried to find a stunned look on the face of his tormentor as she pulled away, blushed and proceeded to walk beside him looking down and pushing her index fingers together. Kai sighed, "We'll get there soon enough anyway."

And get there soon they did. Barely a minute passed before the BladeBreakers arrived on the banks of a secluded little lake. It wasn't much bigger than a basketball court and surrounded entirely by trees. From what one could see from the shore it didn't appear to be more than one and a half meters deep it's deepest region which was near the middle on the far left hand side.

The water was stained a rusty brown colour but by no means muddy. You could see the bottom quite clearly and judging by the area in which the lake was located, it wasn't from pollution either.

Kai heard the others draw a quick breath behind him and smirked. "Go change." He commanded and all ran off to do just that.

When they came back all were positively bursting to hear what he had in mind for today.

Tyson's hat still rested upon his head despite an obvious exposure to water apparent in the near future. He was clad in orange-red swimming trunks with an interesting pattern up the sides and black cuffs and waistband.

Ray still wore his bandana but he had taken the wrap out and platted his hair loosely instead, he wore a pair of white swimming trunks with lime green cords and green brand scribble on the base.

Max wore a pair of bright blue Hawaiian print swimming trunks that came beneath his knees and also had a line of pink zinc across his nose.

Hilary wore a white bikini with large pink straps that tied in big bows on her neck, back, hips and chest. Her hair was up in two little pigtails and she wore a pink mesh shirt over the top.

Kaoru wore a red bather suit though it wasn't quite like anything Kai had ever seen. It was sort of a one piece, yet defiantly not. It was mangled, and exposed much more flesh than any one piece he had ever known.

The piece of bather material that covered her left breast began with a bow at her shoulder and finished in a bow at her right hip, it covered enough of her to be modest but not much beyond that. The bit that covered her right breast began on her right shoulder but without a bow. It crossed sharply under the first piece and disappeared around her side before touching her stomach at all. The bottom of the bathers just looked like the typical bikini bottom apart from the fact that is was slanted up at the right side where it joined the first bit of material.

The bathers accented every feature, from her toned stomach to her sizable chest, perfectly and Kai found it exceedingly hard not to blush redder than a tomato, which was what both Ray and Max had done immediately upon spotting Kaoru's choice of clothes. Tyson was, of course, checking out Hilary.

"So…" Kaoru began, either ignorant to the stares she was being given or trying to ignore them, "What _are_ we doing."

Kai sighed. "Having a day off." He told them before plopping (not that he would ever use such a word) himself down on the bank and waiting for the inevitable.

And as if on cue yells of joy filled the area.

* * *

Ray emerged, soaked to the bone, and let himself fall down next to Kai with a laugh.

"So." He began, looking a the stoic Blader who lay, one leg bent, one crossed over, arms crossed, eyes closed and grass blade in mouth, beside him. "What on earth possessed you to give us a day off? Not than I'm complaining!"

Kai didn't answer.

"Oy! You asleep?" Ray poked him.

Kai cracked on eye open and sent Ray an angry glare, but it was softened a bit as he just didn't have the energy. "Not anymore."

Ray laughed. "Sorry!"

"No you're not."

"Is Kai awake?" Hilary called out from the lake.

"Yup!" Replied Ray with a grin.

"Good!" Continued Tyson. "Bring him oven then."

Kai groaned.

"Alright!" Ray turned to Kai, "You heard them, get up."

"Is that an order?"

"Um…if it can be without inflicting some sort of horrible wrath upon me…"

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"So…was that horrible wrath or you're coming swimming?" Asked Ray uncertainly.

Kai closed his eyes again. "Horrible wrath."

"I see…KAORU! A little help?" Ray called out, turning to the others.

Immediately Kai could hear splashing and then the sound of footsteps. _Great…_was all he had time to think before Kaoru appeared above him.

Her hair was wet and shining, bangs melded into one piece that draped across her right eye. Her face was washed clean of any make-up and shone with water and a natural happy sort of beauty that few were able to posses. Her blue eyes were filled with impossible joy, silver flecks radiating laughter and smiles and little water droplets clinging to her dark lashes.

"Come on Kai." She began tilting her head happily to the side, fringe bobbing with the motion. "Don't-cha wanna go for a swim?"

Evoking every ounce of will power in his body Kai managed to remain his usual colour and respond with a firm, "No."

She smiled. "You're lying!" She exclaimed surely, and bent next to him.

"And you would know this how?"

Kaoru smirked, a strange look for her and one that was somewhat frightening. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

She shrugged. "Alright." And promptly took a hold of his belt buckle sending Kai's face into the deepest shades of crimson.

"HEY!" he exclaimed sitting straight up. Kaoru ignored him, pressed the two red eyes of the dragonhead belt buckle and pulled back on the clasp. She yanked it up and the belt came off with ease. "QUIT THAT!" he yelled trying to pry her off his pants. But her hands were nimble, he'd get a hold of one only to find the other working on the stud and zipper. Soon she had it undone and to Kai's horror, and the others extreme amusement, pulled his pants down.

"See." Stated Kaoru proudly still crouching next to Kai but now looking him in his bright red face. "You're wearing swimming trunks! Which is what leads me to believe you wish to go swimming."

"Hn." Muttered Kai, his face was slowly becoming its natural colour though the traces of a harsh red blush were still prominent on the bridge of his nose, cheeks and ears.

_I'm going to have to get her back for that_. He thought angrily and stood up.

'_Might I suggest doing as she asks?'_ Quipped Dranzer, entering the young boys' mind.

_And how, pray tell, would that help me?_ Asked Kai.

'_You have a very toned body, do you not?'_

_Your point?_

'_Such a toned body that any girl would blush beet red to see?'_

_Well…_

'_So do as she asks. Go swimming.'_

Kai laughed inwardly, which translated to a sinister smirk on the outside and scared Kaoru out of her wits.

_Very well Dranzer. I'll go swimming_.

And with that Kai dropped his pants entirely and stripped off his scarf and the little black open shirt.

Kaoru gulped. He had very nice legs…very nice arms…very nice abbs…very nice mouth. She blushed, her own mouth hanging open a little.

"Like what you see?" asked Kai smirking down at her. Kaoru nodded absently, succeeding in making Kai's smirk grow further.

"Whoa." Agreed Hilary hopping out of the water to join the unfolding scene. She walked straight up to Kai. "'Like' would be a bit of an understatement wouldn't it?" She asked proceeding to poke Kai's abbs, "How much do you work out! Seriously!"

"Hey!" Protested Kai as Hilary took a hold of his arms lifting them up and about as if inspecting a horse.

"Geez! Toned much! Even your underarms have muscles!" She exclaimed poking his underarms. Kai bit his lip to stop from laughing.

_Dammit. Why did I, of all people, have to be ticklish?_

Hilary poked him a bit more. "WOULD YOU STOP!" Kai burst and Hilary shrunk back a bit giving Kai just the right opportunity to break away from her and walk into the water, tight purple Singlet still on.

"Hey!" Kaoru called and leapt up to run after him. "Aren't you going to take that off?"

"No."

"Why not?" asked Hilary, somewhat disappointed. "We wanna see your abbs!"

Kai's eye twitched. "Too bad."

Kaoru and Hilary turned to each other, shrugged, and followed their captain into the lake. Kaoru came to stand next to him.

"See. Not so bad is it?" she grinned and Kai glared at her. Suddenly a thought hit him.

"How did you know my belt came off like that?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Fan girls Kai, fan girls. We had models. Replicas if you will. And we practised. A lot."

Kai swallowed a bit. "Practiced what exactly?"

Kaoru winked before bringing a finger to her chin in thought. "Let me see…I believe the fastest girl could have you undressed in…3.24 seconds…if memory serves."

Kai blinked. "I'm not sure I wanted to know that."

Kaoru just laughed and bent down into the water, swimming over to the others before the thought even crossed Kai's mind.

"_What was your time?"_

* * *

"GO DRAGOON!"

"DRAYLIA!"

The next day all members of the BladeBreakers had awoken rested, content and fully aware that today would be training. They had had their day off and that was all they could possible ask. Now it was down to business.

Kai had brought up the good possibility of doubles matches in the up coming tournament and Kenny had said that he would need to evaluate each blader to see who should be paired with who.

The evaluation was done two bladers at a time. It began with a battle to assess strength and all around blading ability then progressed to an obstacle course Kai had set up. Each blade was required to speed up a tree trunk, along a branch, drop into a bucket below, find a way out, draw a pattern in the grass, hit a rock without stopping, jump onto the rock and spin on it for one minute.

The course tested, vertical ability, accuracy in movement (balance), accuracy in falling, initiative and intelligence, speed and control, attack and defence, ability to jump, endurance. In that order.

Kai had demonstrated that it was very possible by finishing the course himself, and in record time. The others weren't so sure.

Finally the course required each blader to call out his or her bit beast and sustain them for at least thirty seconds. Kai had looked directly at Kaoru as he said this and smirked in a way that said plainly and clearly: "I win." Kaoru had glared at him.

Ray and Max were up first. They had battled and Ray had beaten Max in the end but it had been very close. Both had completed the obstacle course but barley. Max had fallen off the tree and had to jump into the bucket were as Ray had made it into the bucket but couldn't get out and ended up having to slash the bucket apart with Driger's Tiger Claw.

Both had easily sustained their bit beasts for as long as was required and then some. Over all Kai had been impressed.

Next Hilary and Tyson battled. A pairing Kai had chosen specifically to see how bit and double faired against each other. Tyson won but Hilary had surprised them on a variety of occasions. One such occasion being when she had had Draylia's Strike Typhoon lift Dragoon clear into the air much to the protest of Tyson who continuously pointed out: "I TAUGHT HER THAT MOVE!"

Both had completed the course, Draylia failing to draw the pattern and Tyson having trouble with the bucket. Now they were calling out their bit beasts.

"Wow." Marvelled Ray, looking up at the two dragons in awe. "They really look alike don't they?"

Kaoru nodded. "As a double, Draylia is spawn from Dragoon. Almost like a child. She retains some of his features but is also uniquely herself…what? I talk to bit beasts remember? Geez." Kaoru huffed turning away from the others who were staring at her, eyebrows raised, clearly saying: 'You know this how?'

Hilary suddenly let out a pained breath and fell, Draylia disappearing. "HILARY!" Exclaimed Tyson rushing to her side and letting his focus on Dragoon slip.

"Haha." She laughed. "Not quite as good as I thought." Tyson just smiled.

"It's okay." Said Kai. "You both sustained your bit beasts long enough."

"So!" Kaoru asked. "I'm up now right? Right?"

"Yeah. Your up." Kai told her and walked up to the dish himself.

Kaoru blinked. "I'm facing you?"

Kai smirked. "Re-match."

"You're on!" Kaoru laughed, fitting Aura into the launcher and threading the ripcord.

"3…2…1…LET IT RIP!" Cried Max, refereeing the match. Both bladers launched. Kaoru's purple blade hit off centre, right next to Kai's and both immediately went on the attack, crashing into one another and then pulling away.

"Call out your bit beast!" Yelled Kai over the sound of metal grinding. "You won't win unless you do!"

"We'll see!" Kaoru yelled back and proceeded to attack unaided by her beast.

"Call her out!" Kai yelled. "DRANZER." He summoned his bit beast, "Or Dranzer will destroy your blade."

Kaoru's eyes widened a little. He wouldn't really…would he? But there was still so much she didn't know about Kai. Perhaps…perhaps he really would do it!

"Ha!" Kaoru laughed despite the huge amount of doubt brewing inside of her. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Watch me! Dranzer! Flame Arrow!"

"Aura." Kaoru whispered and her bit chip shone silver before the blade retreated, jumping back to Kaoru's hand. She stuck out her tongue. "Nya!"

"That's cheating!"

"Actually, no." Began Kenny formally. "A blader is well within their rights to withdraw their blade from the match if they feel there is any real threat to themselves of their Beyblade. Which in this case…" He trailed of purposefully. Kai only snorted in annoyance.

Kaoru shrugged. "Pity about that." She sighed. "Guess I'll just have to out do you on the obstacle course."

Kai glared at her. "I'd like to see you try."

"Ready?" Began Ray and both bladers fitted their blades to their launchers. "Then 3…2…1…LET IT RIP!" Both blades flew at the ground hitting it briefly and gaining speed before taking a little jump and speeding up the tree trunk, neither missing a beat. Kaoru's reached the branch first but Kai's wasn't far behind.

_Aura._ Thought Kaoru to her bit beast and felt it acknowledge her silent plea. It jumped, no fear or hesitation.

'_You can leave this to me Kaoru. It's merely an obstacle course, no opponent, I can handle it.'_

_Are you sure?_

'_I am. And if I need you I have only to call.'_

Kaoru smiled. _Well okay then_. And with that she sat down, much to the surprise of the others, and yawned widely just as her blade sped up the sides of the bucket tipping it over and spinning out.

"What…are you doing?" Asked Kai in awe as her blade spun the BBA symbol in the grass in perfect sync with his.

"Sitting." Replied Kaoru simply.

"Well I can see that! But you beyblade…how is it…"

"I'm just a great blader I guess." She smiled and looked up at him. "Wanna surrender now?"

Kai growled. "No way! GO DRANZER! DEMOLISH THE ROCK!"

"Not that I want to burst your bubble or anything…but if you demolish the rock then what are going to jump onto?"

Kai's eyes grew wide just as Dranzer attacked. Luckily it was just bashed up a bit, no real damage and Dranzer jumped up easily.

Kai glared at Kaoru. "If I want your opinion I'll ask for it."

She shrugged watching Aura spin happily atop the rock.

_That's probably enough._ She told her bit. _It's been more than a minute. You can stop._

'_Aren't we trying to beat porcupine-head?'_

Kaoru giggled a bit making Kai look at her and ultimately causing him to lose concentration and for Dranzer to come to a slow and steady stop atop the rock.

"Dammit." He cursed. Kaoru only smiled.

"I win." She told him happily.

"Yeah. But you distracted me so it doesn't count." Kai sneered.

'_Stubborn isn't he'._ Remarked Aura casually.

Kaoru giggled again. _Just a bit_. She agreed.

"You have to bring out your bit beast now." Kai told her, half regretting that the challenge was over but also exited to see what her blade truly was.

Kaoru's eyebrows knitted together worriedly. _Aura…what are we going to do._

'_Hmm. I'm not sure. Maybe I can short circuit Dizzy so they won't get a reading on me.'_

_No. Then they'd just have to do one another time._

'_I suppose. Well I could use Dranzer's energy to mask my own. Or perhaps bit beasts don't even give off an unusual aura, mine is probably very similar. After all I am a…'_

_HUMAN! I'M A HUMAN AURA!_ Kaoru told her bit beast angrily.

'_I know you are. But I-'_

_**You** are a part of me. So you are human too._

The bit beast smiled sadly. '_If you say so.'_

_And I do! Now I say we go with that "Using Dranzer's energy thing", do you think it will work?_

'_It should. Just make sure Kai brings out Dranzer before you call me out.'_

_Okay._

Kaoru turned to Kai. "Alright. I'm ready, but you have to go too!"

Kai nodded. "I was planing to."

"Actually," interrupted Kenny, "I've never been able to analyse Kaoru's bit beast so maybe you could bring them out separately so I can get some readings."

Kaoru went white.

"Alright." Kai nodded, "Go." He told Kaoru.

"Uh…umm…No! You go first! I have to…make sure Aura's ready." She rattled off quickly. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Well…alright." He agreed and launched Dranzer. The bit beast appeared with a roar.

_Aura!_ Kaoru practically screeched in her mind.

'_Calm down! Lord. Are you trying to deafen me?'_

_Aura! What are we going to do?_

'_I said calm down. Just hold my bit chip in the direction of Dranzer and I'll absorb a little of her power. Simple.'_

Kaoru sighed. _I hope you realise this has just taken a good two years off my life._ She told the bit before doing as it had asked.

Soon Kai's minute ended and he let Dranzer disappear back into it's blade to a round of applause and some very positive feed-back from Dizzy. He looked over to Kaoru. "You're up."

She swallowed. "Right." And stood up. _I hope you know what you're doing Aura._

'_Don't worry. Just launch the blade and call me out. And look confident! Honestly! I'm something to be proud of aren't I?'_

Kaoru smiled. _Yeah, yeah._

"3…2…1…LET IT RIP!" cried Tyson and Kaoru released Aura letting her spin for a moment. She looked over to Kenny. He caught her look and returned it with a big smile and a thumbs up ensuring her that everything looked good.

She sighed. _Here we go Aura._

Smirking, Kaoru turned to her audience. "You all ready for this?" she asked.

"YES!" Exclaimed Max excitedly, "Stop building it up! I wanna know what she is already!" If it were not for the fact that he was sitting on the ground, he would have been on the edge of his seat.

Kaoru laughed. "Alright then." She lifted her hand slowly upward and just as her wrist snapped up at the top called, "AURA!"

The beast rose out of her blade and all mouths, save for Tyson's, dropped to see that Aura was in fact an angle. A pair of large white wings protruding from just below her shoulders confirmed that.

She had a shapely body, undeniably female, long legs, and nice hips, thin waist, large, but not too large, breasts, delicate arms and a perfectly structured face. She wore large silver metal boots that were high-heeled and came just below her knees along with long silver metal gloves on her arms that ended just below her elbow but continued outwards to form a blade.

Her cloths consisted of silver metal hip plates which joined in the centre, each spotting some sort of blue glazed stone in the middle, and a strip of blue material between them on the front and back that flapped happily in the breeze. The silver metal ran the length of her shapely stomach, intricate designs covering every inch of it. When the metal reached her breasts it stopped. They were instead covered by triangular pieces of the same blue skirt material and disappeared over her shoulder to join the back somewhere.

She had long light blond hair held back with a silver metal headpiece. Her eyes were a perfect red colour and flecked with silver just as Kaoru's were and she was smirking.

"So. What do you think?" Asked Kaoru, satisfied that they had all had enough of a look.

"I think…" began Ray searching for the right word.

"Wow." Finished Max.

"Yeah. That."

"Care to show us a move or two, Kaoru?" asked Kenny, tapping eagerly on Dizzy.

Kaoru looked up to Aura. _What do you think?_

'_May as well.'_ Aura told her with a wink. Kaoru smirked, immediately realising what her bit beast was planning.

"Okay." She said with a shrug. "But just remember," her eyes grew dark, "…you asked. Shadow Reaper!"

Aura's eyes clouded over a bit then with sudden force her head snapped up, eyes wide and her wings began to beat, generating a smoky apparition, something like shadows. Before long the entire area was engulfed in the foggy darkness. The teens stood together only able to see each other. Kaoru had disappeared into the darkness; she just stood and waited, watching Kai for the inevitable.

And sure enough it wasn't long before a form, looking suspiciously like the Grim Reaper, appeared behind Kai. Max saw it first and yelled in out fright.

"AH! KAI LOOK OUT!"

Kai spun around, eyes growing wide and letting out a yell just as the scythe began to descend upon him. (5)

And then it was gone, the darkness, the reaper and the scythe. Kai slowly lowered his hands from their position above his face as a useless means of protection. Laughter met his ears. He turned around to find Kaoru leaning on the trunk of a tree, one hand supporting her and the other covering her laughing mouth.

Aura stood, or rather floated, next to her. The angle was bent double, one metal encased hand held her thin stomach and the over covered her mouth which was laughing also. But though her body racked with humour she didn't make a sound. Slowly the angle began to recover and lifted her head to send Kai an apologetic glance.

"Haha." Kaoru laughed. "Admit it! I win! I win one hundred and ten percent of…possible…win-age…haha! Oh man. That was seriously funny. We really got you huh?"

Kai blinked once, twice and then exploded, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

* * *

-Giggles- Woohoo! All done! Who wants A/n's? -Brings out a tray of authors notes-

(1) – Oujahi – Oooo…who's Oujahi? Well I'll give you a hint. Go to _freedict (dot) com_, it's a translation site. Yes Oujahi actually means something in another language…but I warn you that it won't be necessarily easy to find as it is two words I smushed together. However if you're up for the challenge go have a look and try to work it out. If you can find it out it gives a pretty big hint to some of the later plot. And while you're at it look up Kaoru's last name, Kumori, as that means something to. Good luck, anyone who can tell me the meaning of both will…get…um…a cookie! And I'll dedicate the next chappie to you! (By the way, I'm not sure how Oujahi's name is actually pronounced but in my story its' Oo-jah-hee. K? K!)

(2) – "Got you." Gasped Hilary before her remaining energy left her and she collapsed against Kai's sturdy frame. – Okay. I've added this simply to point out the already obvious fact that this is NOT nor will it ever be a KaiHil fic. Just thought you might need reminding.

(3) – Ramen, dombori, tempura - Ramen are noodles about as thin as spaghetti. They are served in a soup with many different toppings and are a typical Japanese dish. Dombori is a rice dish served with many different toppings, pork, beef or chicken and egg. Tempura is vegetables and seafood deep-fried in tempura batter.

(4) – Yakitori –Yakitori is basically skewered grilled chicken.

(5) – Scythe – That's like the blade thing the Grim Reaper has. I don't know how to describe it so if you don't know what I'm on about then google it.

Yup! That's all from me for now! Oh! And I decided to do a little comic of the poking Kai thing Kaoru had going on there somewhere in the middle. It's a variation on the theme and by no means done yet but I'll let you know if it's done next chapter if anyone would like to see it! It's called "The Lesser Of Two Evils". Heh, just Soi entertaining herself -grins-

So anyho, please send me a review! I would love to hear from you no matter how short or how long the review! So yay! Review!


	6. I'm On My Way

**Agh!** I know! It's super, mega, extremely, uber late! And I'm SO sorry! I have reasons (holiday, writers block, dead computer, sick, cruelly and unusually large project**s**, friends with serious problems, sick (in that order)) but let's not go too far into it.

Basically, I know it's been ages since I updated, but I AM! So yay! -pops party poppers- Isn't it exciting? And not only that, but I've made this chapter extra long just as a way of saying "I'm sorry." It's 11183 words, for anyone who's interested. -grins-

So……………-ponders- Usually I have stuff to say about now but no. Can't think of anything…hmm.

Well you should at least know that there's a song in this chapter. If you're interested in downloading it (I know it can be annoying not knowing the song) then let me suggest you download a program called LimeWire off the Internet. It's free (and I don't own it, duh), type it in Google, you can get all of the songs in this story off it.

This particular song is called "I'm on my way." Thus the title. It's by Phil Collins and was in the movie Brother Bear. Yeah -cough- I'm cool…-shifty eyes-

This chapter goes out to **Princess Sylvia! **Who answered the question at the bottom of last chapter correctly! GO YOU! YAY! _Oujahi_ means: King Sun and _Kumori_ means: Shadow

How exciting. On with the story.

* * *

**I'm On My Way!**

Kaoru laughed. "Admit it! I win! I win one hundred and ten percent of…possible…win-age…haha! Oh man. That was seriously funny. We really got you huh?"

She saw Kai blink, once, twice, processing the fact that he had just been tricked. Then he exploded "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

Kaoru only laughed more. "Well, back when I first battled you in the Mini Tournament, Aura wanted to come out but I said that we wouldn't be able to beat you so not to bother. She was annoyed so I promised her that if you got a big head I'd let her come out and teach you a lesson. And boy did she teach you a lesson! Your face! Aw man!" She broke off laughing.

"Huh?"

"Oh I'm sorry Kai! I really hope you don't hate me now but all's fair right? I had to keep my promises!"

The corners of Kai's lips quirked up. All in all that had been a very well executed little trick. Even he, Kai Hiwatari, hadn't thought of using a bit beast to intimidate someone. He would have to remember that one to use on Tyson.

"KAI-KUN!" Exclaimed Kaoru happily, bounding towards him, "You're smiling!" She grinned and his smile immediately disappeared.

"I was doing no such thing. Don't be preposterous." Kaoru laughed happily and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. Kai in turn went as stiff as a board.

"Don't lie! I saw you smile! You don't hate me!" She grinned over his shoulder.

Kai said nothing.

Suddenly Kaoru jumped back in surprise. "Aura!" She exclaimed angrily at the angel who stood head turned away and eyes directed elsewhere, trying to look innocent. But the slowly dissipating bluey-purple crossbow in her hand gave her away. "What was that for?!"

The bit beast let its eyes roll slowly, innocently pouting mouth curving into a sinister smirk. The BladeBreakers watched Kaoru's face contort in frustration as an inner conversation progressed. She snorted.

"Go on then! Get back into your blade you damn annoyance!" The bit beast did as it was told, smirk still planted firmly on its face and its red and silver eyes shining with mischief.

It was then that Kaoru realised all eyes were on her, eyebrows raised in question. "What?" asked the girl defiantly, "She hit me with the damn arrow! What was I meant to do? Ignore it?" But she knew the real question had been 'What kind of bit beast attacks its master?'

_Nice_. Kaoru thought to Aura who was giggling madly in the back of her mind. _Real nice._

_

* * *

  
_

Kai woke up the next day with a yawn and a stretch. He was sleeping alone in the bedroom with the double bed. He had managed to claim it the other day by simply being first into it and beginning to unpack his things, minimal though they were. Kaoru and Hilary shared the room next to his, Ray and Kenny next to them and Max and Tyson right at the end, as far away from Kai as he could possibly get them.

He got up and shuffled around, diligently rubbing sleep from his eyes and trying to make himself look less dead. He ran a brush through his unruly hair, not like it would help.

Of course Kai would _never_ let _anyone_ know his hair was like this naturally. Better they think he spent hours every morning gelling it up than hours of his youth trying to straighten it out. He'd rather be thought of as a vain, hair-obsessive jerk than a guy whose hair stuck out at strange and peculiar angles…against his will.

Then again it wasn't like anyone would be up this early to see him…still, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

So Kai splashed his face with water and donned his usual attire. _Breakfast_. Was the thought most prominent in the young blader's mind as he made his way to the kitchen.

His thoughts began to stray to beyblade and then to the peculiar show Kaoru had given them yesterday. Until he was once again consumed in pondering the newest BladeBreaker. And that was perhaps why he didn't notice her sitting, cross-legged, on _his _seat no less, elbows on table and staring intently at the fruit bowl, until he was right behind her. He raised an eyebrow.

"Still not sleeping?"

Kaoru jumped. "Oh God, Kai!" she exclaimed, clutching the back rest of the chair she had half fallen off, "You scared me!"

"It's what I do." He commented causally, surprised at his own willingness to joke. _Ah well, it's still morning_, he reminded himself. Kaoru laughed.

"Well I'm glad you're up!" He raised an eyebrow. "Now you can make me some breakfast! I'm _starving_!"

Kai face-faulted.

"You're kidding? Why can't you make your own breakfast?"

"Can't cook remember?"

"Well then cereal."

"I burn cereal."

"You _can't _burn cereal."

"Oh believe me, you _can_." She was dead serious.

Kai, seemingly oblivious to this fact, smirked. Fair enough, he'd play along. "Alright then, enlighten me. How do you burn cereal?"

"Put it in the toaster."

Once again Kai's face met with the cold, hard floor. "WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED YOU TO PUT CEREAL IN A TOASTER?"

"Well I remembered that you were meant to put something in the toaster, but of course that's toast, thus the name. Still, I reckoned I had a 50/50 chance so I just grabbed the cereal since that was what I felt like and hoped for the best, but when the little toaster bell rung I couldn't get it out so I figured stick a spoon in!" Kai sweat-dropped, "But that didn't work, actually it blew up the toaster and scattered burnt cereal all over the floor and that was when mum walked in." She paused, lifting a hand dramatically to her forehead. "I was never allowed to cook again," she stated.

"And with good reason." Kai grumbled, still, he wasn't going to make her breakfast. "You think you could manage cereal if I sat here and told you what to do?"

"Well…maybe…"

"Okay then." She stood there looking at him. "What? Do I actually need to tell you to go into the kitchen?"

"OH! Right…" She nodded and walked into the kitchen stiffly.

It was strange. Surrounded by cabinets of varying size and shape, pots and pans, lights and sounds and smells. Drawers, a fridge, a sink and an oven and stove. She clenched her fist to her chest protectively and looked around unsurely. She felt completely and utterly out of her comfort zone.

"Um…"

Kai sat down on the other side of the counter. "See that big cupboard?" asked Kai indicating a large door behind her. She nodded numbly. "That's a pantry."

"Pan-try…"

"Very good!" He told her in mock praise. She stuck out her tongue and opened 'the pantry'. "Now get out the cereal." She blinked.

"Right…" So many tins and boxes and sachets, all of them had something different in them and she needed to find cereal.

"White box, right hand side. It's says 'Cornflakes'."(1)

"Oh." She took it out and placed it on the counter looking at Kai for what to do next.

"You know what the fridge looks like?" She nodded. "Well open it. Good. Now get out the milk." Kaoru nodded staring into the fridge, finger resting on lip in contemplation. "Bottle with white stuff in it. Says 'Milk'. Go figure."

"Ah." She got it out. "So…now what?" she asked bringing the milk over to the cornflakes.

"Bowls. Get out seven bowls from that cabinet." He told her pointing to a bottom cabinet, to the right, behind her. She did so and brought them up to the counter. "You know what bowls are. I'm impressed."

"Shut up. Why seven."

"The others will want some."

"You're thinking of others. I'm impressed."

Kai smirked. All right, he'd give her that one. "Now just put the milk and cereal together. In the _bowl_! _Not_ the toaster. Understand."

"Mhmm." she replied but her focus was now on the milk and cereal and the careful process of adding them to one another.

_All right Kaoru_, she thought to herself, _now this is really very simple. Pick up the cereal, it opens from the top, good. Now pour some into the bowl. YAY! All right, milk. It has a screw top, just like a soda bottle. Now put the milk in with the cereal…oh…that doesn't look right. Too much milk...too little cereal. Damn Kai. Looking all amused. I'll show him._

And show him she did. Kaoru reasoned that if there was too little cereal she would add more. So picking up the cereal she upended it into the bowl, which began to overflow.

"OH NO! Don't do that!" She exclaimed frantically and the madness began. Kaoru attempted to scoop out the milk, not thinking of asking Kai for help, and in doing so tipped the bowl over. Milk and cereal poured onto the floor leaving Kaoru only enough time to think -_Not again!-_ before attempting to back away, slipping and falling, her hands reaching out for something to steady herself.

Kai looked on in amusement as Kaoru fell, hands flailing about, trying to find something to hold onto. She found something all right! Her hand gripped firmly onto the plate that Ray's ingredients rested on. A dozen eggs and twenty-so pieces of bacon. Kai bit his lip.

Smooth and cool and surprisingly thin for something that was going to save her. But it was all Kaoru had right now so she held it firmly and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, luck was rarely on Kaoru's side when she worked in the kitchen and her handgrip tipped up under her. She was aware that a dozen or so eggs hit the opposite wall before something hard hit her on the head and she blacked out.

The dozen eggs soared merrily over Kai's head and hit the wall behind him, but he didn't look at that, instead watching the plate of bacon come crashing down on Kaoru's head and knocking her unconscious. It was an added bonus when the plate slide off to reveal the bacon sitting contentedly upon her messed up hair and her eyes swirling madly.

Kai laughed. Loudly and truly he laughed, for the first time in _so _long.

"KAORU!" Though it was short lived as Tyson came speeding round the corner that led to the bedrooms, into the kitchen and to Kaoru's side without even noticing that his stoic captain's back was shaking with humour.

"YOU DID THIS!" exclaimed Tyson rounding on the duel-haired teen. Then noticing his shaking shoulders, hand-covered smiling mouth and almost…dare he say it – happy! – eyes, paused and asked, "Are you laughing?"

And predictably enough this was the exact moment Ray, Hilary, Max and Kenny chose to arrive in the kitchen come dining room/lounge to inspect the cause of the crash and splat (the splat of course belonging to the eggs) for themselves.

Kai coughed, straightened up and headed out of the room with a simple, "Don't be silly." But anyone who was paying close enough attention would have noticed a smile still playing on his lips.

"My eggs!" Came Ray's aggravated shout after him, causing Kai to snort in humour before disappearing into the sanctuary of his room.

…

In order to, once again, collapse into laughter.

Damn Kaoru and her lousy cooking skills!

* * *

"Gah! Dammit! You're a slave driver, you know that?"

Kai smiled, this morning's events having put him in a good mood. "Why thank you."

Max just growled. "Why fifty?" he asked, "Why not forty-five?"

"Because I'm the captain of this team and I said fifty. Got it? Besides, it's only five more. Be thankful I didn't say sixty!"

Max silently acknowledged his defeat by going back to the push ups. Five more wasn't really that bad. Tyson still had nine to go and Hilary thirteen. Ray, Kai and Kaoru had finished theirs already, Kaoru surprising them by finishing only seconds behind Kai.

In fact, that was precisely what Kai had been thinking on for the past ten minutes. He normally finished miles ahead of the rest, his harsh upbringing giving him an almighty lead in physical fitness. But as far as he could tell, other than running occasionally and sparing with Tyson, Kaoru didn't work out. How could she have upper body strength rivalling his own?

Of course there was the abnormal weight of her blade to consider. He had held it once and his hand had fallen with the weight of it, far heavier than his own, perhaps even twice as heavy. What puzzled him further was that she hadn't even known how abnormally large it was. Almost as if she had learnt with it. As if she had known nothing else. It didn't seem to worry her, she treated it as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

Kai sighed. _Damn girl. _Why had was he thinking so much about her? The better part of the last five days had been spent doing so. She wasn't worth wasting precious thought over. She was _simply a girl_. A girl with a heavy blade and a peculiar bit beast, yes, but just a girl.

"Done!" exclaimed Max flopping to the ground.

"And thank God!" Tyson agreed, falling beside him.

"Speak for your selves!" Grumbled Hilary, six excruciating push ups to do.

"Hilary!" barked Kai, her head snapped up to look at him, "Your last three are sit ups!"

"What?" Hilary's eyes grew wide and angry, "But that's not-mnf!"

Tyson's hand clapped tight over Hilary's mouth. "Shut up you idiot!" he hissed, "Sit ups are easier!" Then he turned to away and stated loudly, "Oh! Poor you Hilary! Sit ups are the worst!"

Kai only rolled his eyes. "Please." he muttered, "As if I don't know they're easier." Kaoru, standing beside him, laughed.

She was wearing her denim skirt again, the one with the chains and bow. Over it was the white top with pink writing that said _I love Beyblade (ers)._ The top had brought much laughter to the team.

"I think you're going soft." she remarked lightly.

Kai growled and turned to face her, how had he not seen her there? "You're looking less milky."

It was Kaoru's turn to growl.

"And I see you've gotten rid of that horrible hair piece too." A vision of Kaoru, swirly eyed with bacon sitting atop her head once again sprung to mind almost making the boy laugh. Almost.

_Agh! And now I'm joking with her! What next? _Kai wondered what was wrong with him. That had been an almost _playful_ insult. But…she was just so fun to irk!

"Do you _want_ me to hit you?" And better yet! A challenge!

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Are you sure?"

"Go ahead."

"If you're certain that's what you want." She threw out a hand, fingers spread wide and then proceeded to slowly clench them, various joints cracking as she did so. Kai smirked, stretching one leg long ready to shift his weight and evade her if she were to lunge at him. Kaoru drew back her arm and let swing-

"STOP IT YOU TWO!" yelled Hilary effectively halting the two fighters in the place. Kai glanced slowly back to Kaoru, just in case she were to take their brief pause as a chance to attack him. But…she wasn't there anymore.

He blinked and began to search frantically for her, only to find her crouching below him, one knee bent and the other extended in an advanced fighting position that would have surely brought him to his knees. (2)

Kai gulped. She was looking up at him, blue eyes shining fiercely and looking more dangerous than he would have thought possible of her. Yet at the same time she understood that now he was in the dominating position. He was above her and she had lost the element of surprise along with the momentum that would have brought her into him. Her eyes, fierce though they were, held acknowledgement, understanding that if he attacked her now, he would win.

Kai stood up and walked away, Kaoru following suit, a silent truce passing between the brief meeting of silver blue and deep crimson eyes.

"Honestly." Hilary muttered shacking her head. "You two are hopeless, worse than Tyson and I even. At least we don't fight with fists and feet."

Kaoru just grinned. "Yeah but that's cause you secretly like each other." Both went beet red.

"I DON'T –"

"Let's go." All eyes turned to Kai standing away from them near the mouth of the forest.

"Go where?"

"Walking."

"Walking?" Kaoru whined. "But walking is so boring!"

"That may be so but it is also disciplined. All bladers must be disciplined and therefore we are walking. Not running, jumping, skipping, leaping, hopping, dancing, jogging, bounding, frolicking, side-stepping, cantering or striding. Walking. Understand."

"Yes." They all droned, heads hung in bitter acceptance.

And so began the walking.

And inevitably the whining.

"It's sooooooo boring!" Tyson whinged. "Can't we run?"

"No."

"Please."

"…"

"Is that a yes?"

"That's a "I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

"Oh…so…no running?"

"No running."

"But why!"

"BECAUSE I SAID! IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND!"

All shrunk away. Kai hung his head in resignation, why, oh, why was is so hard to get through to them?

"So…" began Kaoru and Kai immediately had a bad feeling about what would happen next, "Let's play a game then!"

"Cool!" exclaimed Max happily, "I'll go! I spy with my little eye something beginning with…um…G!"

"Grass."

"That's right! Good job Kai."

"Hn."

"Your turn!"

"…"

"Kai?"

"…"

"All-right…then…Kaoru!"

" ALRIGHT! I spy with my little eye…something beginning with…K!"

"Kai."

"Um…yeah…how did you know that?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "What else but Kai or Kaoru starts with K around here?" he asked rhetorically.

Kaoru blinked and looked around. Tree-T, Bush-B, Mountains-M, Sky-S…damn. He was right. She blushed. "Shut up. Go Ray."

"Um…okay…I spy with my little eye something beginning with…S."

"Sky." Said both Kaoru and Kai at the same time."

"Yeah…that's – " began Ray but was cut off.

"Stop it! This game is no fun if you guess what it is before anyone else gets a turn!" yelled Tyson angrily at the two.

Kai sighed. "Fine."

"Hilary, go."

"K. I spy with my little eye something beginning with…B!"

Ray paused to think. "Bush?"

"Branch." Said Kai and all turned to glare at him. "What?"

"You said you'd let someone else guess!"

"I did! I let Ray guess and he was wrong so I corrected him." Kai stated, defending himself.

Tyson deadpanned. "Let's just play something else."

Everyone nodded.

"Alright." began Tyson. "I'm thinking of an animal…"

"Is it a mammal?"

"Nope."

"A reptile?"

"Nope."

"A whale?"

"Nope – ah…yeah. Damn."

Kaoru's eyes widened, "Hey wait…a whale is a mammal!"

Kai smirked. "I know. But Tyson doesn't."

Tyson blushed and the others laughed at him save for, of course, Kai. "This is stupid! Kai keeps getting them. Let's not play games anymore."

"Okay." Nodded Hilary, "What will we do?"

"Chant?"

"What do you mean chant?"

"I dunno…just…chant. We are the best, better than the rest. Something like that."

Kaoru smirked, "Any chant?"

It was in this moment that Kai, who had heard all about Kaoru's time with the fan girls, realised what was happening. His eyes widened, fear seeping into every inch of him. For what was it that Kai feared more than anything? Fan girls!

"Don't do it Kaoru…" he warned, but by then she had already drawn a breath and prepared to sing:

"KAI I LOVE YOU!

MARRY ME TODAY!"

She threw out one delicate hand as if awaiting a ring, Kai merely scowled angrily. Then, continuing with her chant, drew her arms back to her heart and proclaimed,

"KAI I LOVE YOU!

YOU BLOW ME AWAAAAAYYYYY!!!!"

And to punctuate the last line she let herself fall slightly to the right and raised her arms to the left, allowing them to ripple as if she was being blown away. Then she turned to Kai and smiled, supremely happy with herself. The others laughed hopelessly.

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

And of course, that only made them laugh more.

"Singing!" Hilary exclaimed suddenly, hands flying to her chest and clasping happily there. "I feel like singing!"

Kaoru nodded, "Yeah! Now you mention it, so do I!"

The boys eyes widened worriedly, hoping they wouldn't be made to sing.

"No." said Kai, "No singing – "

"_Tell everybody I'm on my way!"_

"Kaoru!" Damn that girl! She never listened to a word he said. What was it going to be like tomorrow when they had to travel to China? Would she decide she knew better and hop on another plane? Actually…perhaps that wouldn't be so terrible…

"_New friends and new places to see,_

_With blue skies ahead, yes,_

_I'm on my way –"_

"KAORU!" Yelled Kai angrily, but the girl only laughed and ran ahead. "And I said NO RUNNING!" It only annoyed him more to find that she was a good singer. A very good singer. Heaving an aggravated sigh he jogged after her.

"_And there's no where else_

_that I'd rather be!"_

She heard Tyson yell, "I thought you said no jogging either." And then heard Kai growl angrily. She laughed and did a little spin receiving a "NO DANCING!" from Kai and some enthusiastic claps from her friends. She turned to face them, put on a big grin and, now joined by an enthusiastic Hilary, sang,

"_Tell everybody I'm on my way!_

_And I'm loving every step I take-"_

She spun back around, taking a few steps to emphasize the previous line, before unexpectedly breaking out of the forest into a gigantic, sloping field of green, green grass. She gasped happily and closed her eyes, allowing the sun to soak into her skin.

"_With the sun beating down, yes._

_I'm on my way!"_

Kai caught up then, grabbing her wrist to make her stop. It surprised him when, instead of squeaking frightened she slipped her hand up so that it rested in his, then, turning to him, clasped his hand in both of hers, grinned brightly and sang,

"_And I can't keep the smile off my face!"_

Before dragging him off across the slope, followed by their yelling, laughing, NOT WALKING team-mates.

* * *

'_Cause there's nothing like seeing each other again,_

_No matter what the distance between._

Ray smiled as Kaoru snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm. Unlike Max, who had gone practically as stiff as a board when Hilary snuggled beside him, Ray was quite comfortable with the idea of having a girl curled up against him. It reminded him a little of Mariah, as she tended to do the same thing.

He missed her a lot, the others too. They were like his family. Lee was his brother (though he wasn't sure if he would be his big or little brother…perhaps twin), and Mariah was his little sister (he knew that). As for Kevin and Gary, well they were like brothers too, though not as close as Lee. Maybe more like cousins, but then not that distant. Whatever they were it didn't matter, they were a family and Ray had missed them.

On his other side sat Hilary though she was not asleep. She stared out the plane window happily, thinking about something or other. Tyson, Max and Chief sat behind him talking animatedly about this and that and their stoic captain sat in front by himself. They had originally made it so the two girls would sit together but it turned out that Hilary only sat beside the window and Kaoru refused to be anywhere besides the aisle.

_And the stories that we tell will make you smile._

_Oh it really lifts my heart!_

A tone rang throughout the plane, effectively waking Kaoru. "Hmm…wha…?" she muttered sleepily.

"Nothing." Ray told her with a smile, "You can go back to sleep."

"Passengers." Said an unknown voice. "My name is Robert Collins and I'll be your pilot today. Our flight to Beijing will take approximately two hours and forty-five minutes. We ask you to make yourself comfortable in this time. An afternoon tea will be served with the option of hot drinks at no further expense, our in-flight entertainment today includes the movie Aeon Flux and Memoirs of a Geisha, a multitude of games to play (you'll find the controls on the back of the TV remote) and a music station for all tastes. (3)

"You'll notice that the seatbelt sign has been extinguished, this means that you are now free to roam the vessel. We do ask that you keep your seatbelt fastened whilst sitting and return to your seats immediately should the light be re-ignited at any time throughout the flight. Thank you for your co-operation, we hope you enjoy the flight upon Japanese Airlines."

"Oh! Food!" Smiled Kaoru happily.

"You're surprisingly like Tyson. Is food all you think about? Hopeless." Muttered Kai from the row infront.

"Just so you know, I'm sticking my tongue out at you."

"Just so _you_ know, I'm smirking evilly into the distance, evilly plotting evil things to do to you."

_So tell 'em all I'm on my way!_

_New friends and new places to see._

Kaoru suppressed a little laugh. She had really been enjoying these little games with Kai as of late, he seemed to enjoy irking her and she enjoyed watching him trying to irk her.

"Oh! I'm so scared!" Kaoru replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Are you?"

"Of course not. Do you even need to ask that?"

"So you are scared?"

"No! How old are you?"

"How old are _you_?"

"I asked you first!"

"Do you honestly think I play those childish games?"

"What games do you play by then?"

"What does it matter to you?"

By this stage the others were thoroughly intrigued. It seemed that, for the past few days, Kai and Kaoru had been challenging each other, sizing up each other and learning about each other through the ancient art of combat. Whether verbal or physical, every time the two talked, a fight would inevitably ensue. And it had become a constant source of entertainment for the BladeBreakers.

_And to sleep under the stars, who could ask for more?_

_With the moon keeping watch over me!_

_

* * *

  
_

-FlashBack-

"I'm telling you Kai, it's this way!" Exclaimed Kaoru indignantly. They had arrived at the airport about an hour ago and had only just escaped check-in as the line had been excruciatingly long! Now they faced the daunting challenge of finding the International Flights.

"And I'm telling you it's this way, stupid wench - OW!" Kai glared at Kaoru, the only girl who had ever _dared_ step on his foot.

"You deserved that. Let's go." She turned away from the group and started walking the way she had insisted they go.

"We're no going anywhere unless it's that way. I've taken this team to many a tournament via this airport, you dare to insinuate I don't know my way around?"

"And I've been travelling the world for five years, you honestly assume I can't find the International Terminal?" She raised an eyebrow innocently.

"I _bet _you it's this way." Kai hissed.

"Then I bet _you_ it's this way." Kaoru smiled.

"Twenty-five Dollars."

"Fifty."

"Seventy-five." Kai's eyes narrowed to slits, daring her to bet higher.

"One Hundred." Kaoru licked her lips.

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

Their pieces said, the two stormed off angrily leaving the others standing alone in the lobby wondering which way to go. But they didn't wonder long when Kaoru returned.

"Damn." Sighed Tyson. "Guess you're short a hundred bucks, huh?"

"Nope." Kaoru smiled. "I just want to see the look on his face."

The others blinked in surprise wondering what she meant when suddenly Kai returned, face angry, eye twitching and a vein popping on his forehead.

"Let's go." He commended emotionlessly and led them the way Kaoru had said as she skipped along happily behind him.

-End FlashBack-

* * *

Kaoru's eyes narrowed wondering what he was playing at.

"Why do you insist upon answering my questions with questions of your own?"

"Did you ever think that maybe that was the point?" He asked now turning around in his seat to send her a smirk through the gap between the head-rests.

_Not the snow nor the rain can change my mind!_

_The sun will come out, wait and see._

Kaoru's eyes widened. He was giving her another challenge. Who would run out of questions first! He wished to revenge his loss this morning by beating her now. Well, she decided, she could at least let him try.

"Did you ever think that perhaps this would be considered a childish game?" Kaoru smirked

_Touché. _Thought Kai, bitterly recalling a previous question "_Do you honestly think I play those childish games?_" But however much he tried to hate her for getting one over on him, he couldn't. He was far too grateful to her for presenting this intellectual challenge, something he missed greatly whilst surrounded by such simpletons as Tyson. So instead of glaring at her he asked "Are you enjoying this childish game?"

Kaoru's brows shot up. She hadn't been expecting an answer such as that but in a way, she smirked, she was grateful. Without meaning to, Kai had left himself open to another of Kaoru's enjoyed pass times. Pretending to flirt with him.

"Why are you staring at me like that Kai-kun?" She asked innocently, rosie lips pouting a little, eyes big and wondering and chin supported on her elegantly interlaced fingers.

Kaoru had begun to do this randomly whenever there was a chance. Batting an eyelid here, blowing a kiss there and flicking her hair whenever was appropriate. The BladeBreakers had become somewhat used to it, accepting it as just another thing that made Kaoru Kaoru. What really surprised them was when Kai decided to join in.

"How am I staring at you?" He replied quietly, a handsome smile caressing his features, deep red eyes shining with amusement and chin coming to rest in the heal of his palm.

"Don't you realize you're doing it?" She tipped her head a little, bangs shifting with the motion.

"What do you think?" His smile spread into a small grin as he let his eyes drop down her form. She wore her hair in a half pony-tail today along with a pretty peach lip gloss. A simple black boob-tube with colourful patterns adorning it covered her top half and a dark pair of jeans with brown stitching and a loose, chunky, sliver chain sloping around the hips, her bottom half. The attire fitted her rather snugly much to Kai's (profusely denied yet nevertheless evident) delight.

_And the feeling of the wind on your face can lift your heart._

_Oh there's nowhere I would rather be!_

"Do you expect me to be able to read your mind?" She had been surprised by his willingness to flirt back but didn't complain. Actually she was enjoying this little twist.

"Can you?" Asked Kai, quick witted as ever. The smell of food licked around Kaoru and she decided she wanted to finish this. Wanted to finish this and beat him and have something to eat.

"Why are you always so cold?" She asked, suddenly angry. Perhaps it was the fact that this contest of his was drawing on and she was getting hungry or maybe it was that she honestly was aggravated with the fact that he kept this fun, playful side of himself inside all the time, instead insisting upon appearing cold and uncaring.

"What business is it of yours?" He asked just as angrily. She had hit a soft spot.

"Are you afraid to answer?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow knowing she was treading on thin ice but hoping to catch him off-guard and gain an edge.

Something in Kai's eyes died and he answered, "Are you any good at maths?"

She deadpanned, just when she thought she might have been getting somewhere…"Are _you _any good at maths?" She returned for lack of anything better. He disregarded it.

"If you are, then what's 1367 times 79?" She blinked confusedly. No, maths had never been one of her stronger suits…She shook her head quickly coming up with a strategy to keep the game alive.

"If you're any good then what's 79,830,219 divided by 65?" She internally prayed he'd just give up and this wouldn't turn into 'The war of the maths.'

"Would I be right in saying the answer is one million, two hundred and twenty-two thousand, one hundred and fifty-seven and twenty-two hundredths?" He questioned lightly, having done the calculations in his head as she had said it and then carefully formatting it into a question. Kaoru blinked.

"You're joking, right?" If she hadn't admired him before then she certainly would have now! Who knew the boy was that good at maths. _Okay. _She thought frantically, _So he's a genius. Big deal…65 goes into 79 once, carry the 14, now how many times does 65 go into148._ She quickly set the problem out in her head, fingers dancing quickly through the air, scrawling invisible equations.

_Cause I'm on my way now, well and truly,_

_I'm on my way now._

"Do I look like some one who jokes?" He asked quietly aware her attention was else where. Suddenly his acute hearing picked up the chirping voice of a flight attendant some ten seats down from his own. His eyes hardened, it was time to end this.

Kaoru didn't even notice him getting up as she worked on her problem. Suddenly a strong hand clasped her shoulder making the girl jump out of her trance.

"What are you do - "

Kai placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face upwards to face him, effectively shutting her up. Kaoru's eyes widened as his face drew near. She gulped. His eyes shone with mystery, intrigue, pain and most prominently beauty. He was gorgeous.

'_Kaoru!' _Insisted Aura urgently in the girls mind, _'Kaoru, pull back. Do something…anything! Get out of there!"_

But Kaoru couldn't. She was frozen. The only movement of her body came from hairs on the back of her neck as they stood up when Kai's breath gently caressed her lips and cheeks and his nose pressed softly into her flesh.

"Do you find me intimidating?" He questioned softly. Jerking out of her frozen state, Kaoru pull strongly back from him and flattened herself against the aeroplane seat.

"N-no." She managed shakily and Kai smirked.

"Got you."

Kaoru's brows furrowed, "What do you mean "Got - " then memories of the challenge flowed back and her eyes widened, "No! That's so not fair! You cheat!"

His smirk only widened, "All's fair in love and war." He recited, earning a blush and then added, "By the way, I'm 18." before sitting back down in his seat to tell the flight attendant, "Black with no sugar."

Kaoru blinked. Then suddenly remembered the first question she had asked _"How old are you anyway?"_

"Oh." She said. "I know. I'm 17."

Kai snorted, then why had she asked? "Like I care."

Kaoru huffed angrily, trying with all her might to suppress the memories of his face less than an inch from her own, his hot, nice smelling breath on her cheeks and trying to ignore the shocked faces of her friends. It didn't work and without her noticing a little smile grew from the pout and evolved steadily into a fully fledged grin.

"Kaoru?" asked a cheery voice and the girl looked up to find a light blue haired flight attendant standing above her. The lady smiled. "Will it be the usual today?"

Kaoru grinned, "Yes please Sara!" Sara giggled a little before filling a martini glass with a combination coke and raspberry fizzy, adding a purple jelly bean with a skewer poked into it. Kaoru's grin grew as the bubbly flight attendant handed her her drink, "You rock!"

Sara smiled, "And for you," she asked Hilary and Ray, "The famous BladeBreakers?"

* * *

Afternoon tea finished and, with the interrogations over, Kaoru sat back with a contented sigh. As soon as Sara had left the others had begun to ask if there was anything going on between her and Kai. Kaoru, of course, had said no. He had done what he had done for the sole purpose of winning their little game.

Then the questions about Sara began. Kaoru knew many flight attendants because she travelled so much. As for her drink it was something her mother had invented when Kaoru was little. She, Tyson and Hiro had all loved them.

Kaoru smiled, an overwhelming sense of fullness enveloping her. Here she was, a good meal in her stomach, up in the air travelling to a different place to do something she had never done, surrounded by people she loved and memories of an unexplainably exciting mental joust filling her mind. Given, she had lost, but it had been an unexplainably exciting mental joust all the same.

Then uncontrolled, burbling up from the depths of her happiness, a whistle escaped. The bouncy tune of the song she had sung the day before twisted itself into her voice and she let her head tip from side to side a little.

"Shut your mouth right now Kaoru." Commanded Kai, twisting in his seat to glare at her.

_I'm on my way now._

"Nyah." She told him, sticking out her tongue and then continuing to whistle.

"I said 'Shut it!' Must I spell that for you." She only whistled some more. "Agh. I swear. You are the most aggravating person."

_I'm on my way now._

Hilary laughed. "You're so lucky to be able to whistle. I absolutely can't!"

Tyson grinned, standing up and wrapping his arms around Kaoru's shoulders to give her a quick squeeze before heading off to the toilets.

_I'm on my way now._

Kaoru smiled at Kai. "You know, you are the most aggravating person." She stated happily.

* * *

Hilary slipped her hand into Kaoru's happily as they walked through customs. With nothing to declare the process was rather quick and before they knew it, the BladeBreakers were through baggage claim and out into the clean, crisp air of Beijing. Well it was an improvement from the plane anyway.

_Tell everybody I'm on my way,_

_And I just can't wait to be there!_

The two girls practically bounded over to the BBA mini-van, Kaoru carting her big purple suitcase and Hilary dragging along a big pink one…with a back pack, duffle bag and smaller make-up bag. Apparently what Kaoru had said about packing light hadn't sunk in. Or maybe for Hilary this was packing light. (4)

The boys piled into the van as well and they set off.

Kaoru poked Ray. "Aren't you excited Ray?!" She burst happily. Ray looked down at the younger girl and smiled toothily at her, cat like fangs glinting in the light.

"Of course I am! I'm ecstatic!" Kaoru laughed and then turned to poke Max.

"Are you exited Maxie?"

The boy grinned, "Yup."

_With blue skies ahead, yes, I'm on my way,_

_With nothing but good times to share._

Kaoru looked over his shoulder hopefully, spotting a little bag packed with a select few lollies. "May I have a Bomber?" She inquired politely.

"Purple?" Asked Max.

"Yes please!" Smiled Kaoru and took the candy-y, sherbet-y morsel of delight from him and popped it into her mouth. "A-h woo exs-whited Kwai-koon?" She asked munching her bomber.

"I'm not even going to bother asking what the hell that was about." Muttered Kai darkly from the back seat.

Kaoru smiled and carefully stored the candy in her right cheek so she could repeat her question. "Are you excited Kai-kun?"

"No. And don't call me that."

"What? Kai-kun?"

"Yes."

"No."

"No what?"

"No, I won't not call you it. I like it. Kai-kun…it's almost…cute!" She giggled and Kai groaned. "Are you excited Chief?"

The boy nodded. "Indeed I am."

"Dizzy?"

"Like-wise!" Answered the feminine voice of the computer.

_So tell everybody I'm on my way,_

_And I just can't wait to be home._

"Ty Ty?" Tyson's eye twitched as Kaoru called him by her pet name for him.

"Yeah. I'm exited Ru." Kaoru smiled, glad that he had not protested against her calling him that, she had been doing it since she was four and like they say, old habits die hard. She knew he didn't like it so she tried to lay off, but sometimes it just slipped out.

"What about you Hils?"

"I'm terrified!"

They all laughed, with the exception of Kai who chose instead to smirk.

"We'll look after you." Promised Max with a big smile and handed her a pink bomber.

"We're at the hotel." The driver informed them and they thanked him and got out.

_With the sun beating down, yes, I'm on my way,_

_With nothing but good times to show!_

Kaoru sighed happily as she stared up at the hotel. She slipped her hands into the hands beside her, which happened to belong to Tyson and Ray, neither of whom complained and walked happily up towards their new home with her. She smiled, happiness was bubbling inside her again. She took a deep breath.

"_I'm on my way!" _She sang happily.

"Kaoru…" groaned Kai as he and the others followed, "Must you - "

"_Yes I'm - "_

"KAORU!"

" _- On my way!" _She finished quickly.

"Nuisance."

* * *

"LEE!"

"RAY!"

"LEE!"

"RAY!"

These were the sounds that filled an empty street outside a large hotel. Two boys ran at each other, heads bent downwards, arms and legs going at a hundred miles an hour, running as fast as they possibly could to bridge the gap between them. They collided, one arm hooked around the other tightly in a brotherly hug.

"MAN! I haven't seen you in…"

"FOREVER!" Ray finished, a big grin on his face.

They embraced again. (3a)

"RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!" A feminine voice made itself known as a girl with bright pink hair ran full pelt towards the Ray, jumping and latching herself onto his neck with such force that it spun him 360 degrees.

"Hey Mariah!" Grinned Ray, eyes happy and fangs shining. He wrapped his arms around her firmly.

"Ray, I haven't seen you in ages! I missed you!" Mariah exclaimed exuberantly hugging Ray tighter.

"I missed you too." Ray managed, though breathing was getting increasingly difficult.

"Hey man!" Grinned Kevin.

"Ray." Smiled Garry, "It's been a while, old friend!"

Ray grinned too, carefully prying Mariah off him. "It has been a while, you're right."

"HEY!" Lee raised an arm, waving to the others who stood up near the entrance to the hotel. "You guys get down here!"

Tyson grinned and did as he was told, the others following. They had gone inside the hotel and checked in before a bubbly, mum-like clerk named Chelsea had decided that they all looked exhausted, taken their bags, jackets and hats (or tried to, Tyson had been rather persistent in holding onto his) and led them to the dining room for lunch.

Before they had gotten a chance to head up to their rooms, another clerk had come up and informed them courteously that the White Tigers had just pulled up outside.

"Hey Lee!" Exclaimed Tyson, taking the boy's hand in a firm shake.

"Hey yourself!" Returned Lee. Tyson then moved on to be hugged by Mariah (Hilary growled at this making Kaoru laugh) and to shake the hands of Gary and Kevin. And it continued in this order with Max, Hilary and Kai (though his greetings lacked the excitement of his team-mates).

Kaoru smiled as Lee's eyes came to rest upon her. "Hi!" She said brightly, "I'm Kaoru! Tyson's best friend, expert in annoying Kai," the boy snorted, "and newest BladeBreaker!"

Lee grinned, "Expert in annoying Kai, eh? I can tell I'm gonna like you!" She laughed and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you!" Exclaimed Mariah, giving the girl a hug with such force it caused her to stumble backward. Kaoru only grinned and returned it.

"Can't wait to beat you." Kevin smirked and shook her hand.

"We'll see about that."

"It's very good to meet you." Gary told her and pulled the girl into a bear hug. Kaoru giggled and hugged back as best she could without being able to reach around the giant's back.

"Well if we're all done with the pleasantries, I'd like to get up to my room." Kai stated blandly.

"You're such a party-pooper." Grumbled Tyson.

"And you're such a - "

"Hey wait! Don't you guys have new bladers too?" asked Ray, and Lee's eyes widened in realisation.

"You're right!" He exclaimed, turning around hurriedly to find an empty street behind him. "Dammit, where'd they go?"

Mariah put a finger to her chin in thought. "I think Mirra said something about 'Taking in the sights' but that they'd be back before too long."

Lee sweat dropped. "Why didn't she tell me that?" He thought out loud. Mariah smiled cattishly at his concern. It was somewhat of a joke between the team that Lee had a crush on one of their new players Mirra, but at the same time there was some solid evidence to back it up.

"Wait…Mirra? As in Mirra the girl who stayed at the village about four years back? The Mirra that you like?" Ray asked continuously, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Lee turned red. "I DO NOT LIKE HER!" he sighed, "But yes. That Mirra."

"See!" Mariah nudged him, "Ray thinks you like her too! And that's just based on how you acted four years ago! You're even more like a love-sick-puppy now!"

Ray laughed. "Is that possibly?"

"Oh, it is!" Kevin grinned.

"I'M NOT A LOVE-SICK-PUPPY! I DON'T ACT LIKE ONE, I DIDN'T FOUR YEARS AGO AND I DON'T PLAN ON ACTING LIKE ONE IN THE NEAR FUTURE! I DON'T LIKE HER!" Heavy panting followed this remark.

"Right…" Kai drawled, "So can we or can't we get up to our rooms now?"

Lee coughed, his blush slowly fading. "Yes. That's a good idea. The others will come back in their own time and - "

"Oh my gosh!" burst Mariah excitedly, eyes shining and mouth smiling as she turned to Lee and exclaimed, "Can't you just imagine Renna with Kai?"

Lee blinked, slowly processing what his friend had said. An image of their other team-mate Renna surfaced in his mind. Her arms crossed, cold blue eyes glinting dangerously and mouth pouted and angry. Kai stood beside her in the exact same position, the only difference was the fact that his eyes were red. 'Hn.' They both said.

Lee laughed. "You're right! I can!" He suddenly stopped laughing and shuddered, "It's scary." This only caused Mariah to laugh more.

"LEE!"

All eyes turned to the cause of the noise and found a pretty girl with shoulder length chestnut hair and one light blue streak bounding towards them, her pink eyes shining with happiness.

"Ah - Mirra…" Managed Lee before the girl had jumped and latched herself onto his neck in much the same way Mariah had done to Ray.

"I'm back!" She sang happily. Lee smiled.

"So I can see. Do you remember Ray?"

The girl blinked. "Ray?" Then she spotted the others and her eyes widened. "RAY!" She exclaimed happily detaching herself from Lee and jumping on Ray instead. "It's been so long!"

Ray nodded. "It has. Still as happy as ever I see."

The girl grinned. "Happier." She informed him.

Ray raised an eyebrow, "I'll believe it when I see it!" he smiled.

"Who are these people?" A voice from behind Lee interrupted the reunion.

Lee stepped aside to face the girl. "These are the BladeBreakers. Remember I told you about how Ray used to be on our team?"

"Oh. Them. They don't look so tough." She remarked lightly, cold blue eyes meeting everyone of the BladeBreakers in turn. She had pretty light blond hair with pink tips that reached just below her shoulder blades and she wore a pair of dark grey jeans, a deep blue vestie with black sleeves protruding from underneath and black fingerless gloves.

Her eyes met Kaoru's suddenly, cold ice blue clashing with silvery sapphire blue, and lingering there. Kaoru stared unflinchingly back, watching as the girls eyes narrowed slightly as if in deep thought, Kaoru felt her eyes doing the same.

Slowly the other girl turned her head to face Lee but her eyes still remained on Kaoru as if reluctant to leave. "Lee." She spoke and in doing so forced her attention to the boy in question, "Are you going to introduce us to them?"

"AH!" The boy panicked, blushing and laughing nervously, hand rubbing at his neck. "Right!" Mirra let go of Ray to come and stand beside Lee. "This is Mirra" Lee told them putting a hand on Mirra's shoulder. "And this is Renna." He added pointing to the blond girl. "Mirra, Renna, this is Tyson, Max, Hilary, Kai and Kaoru…right?" Kaoru nodded. "And you know Ray."

"Hi!" Smiled Mirra, grabbing Lee's arm.

Kaoru saw Renna's eyes become sad and she muttered, "Yeah. Hi." And proceeded to walk past the group and up into the hotel. Mirra's smile dropped as she stared after the other girl sadly.

"Ah…let's go inside then…" Suggested Ray through the heavy silence.

"Yeah. Let's."

* * *

"Oh my god! I AM STUFFED!" Exclaimed Mirra, a contented smile curving her lips.

"Hear, hear!" Agreed Hilary who had begun to really like Mirra. She said what she felt, laughed when she wanted and ate as much as Tyson.

"Oh, Yum, that was good…" Kaoru sighed leaning back in her chair.

She liked Mirra. Liked her a lot! Happy for the sake of happy, and that was the best kind in Kaoru's opinion. She also really liked Gary. He was sort-of like Tyson where food was concerned but reminded her of Ray in the way that he was caring and gentle. And she liked Mariah who was bright and bubbly and had already planned three shopping expeditions for the girls to go on. And she liked Lee, and Kevin and Renna…

Renna. There was something strange about her but Kaoru just couldn't put her finger on it. There were times when both girls would look up at each other for a moment, narrow their eyes wonderingly and then look down again. Something in Kaoru said that they'd met before. Something else said that that was impossible, she'd have remembered by now. And somewhere in her she knew that whatever it was would eventually be clear and that she should try not to worry…still…

"I think I'm about ready for bed if no-one minds." Renna's voice broke the comfortable silence.

"Yeah." Agreed Tyson, "I ate so much I'm exhausted!"

Gary smiled, "You can say that again!"

"I ate so much - "

"It's an expression, you idiot," cut in Kai, and everyone laughed.

"Yeah!" Mirra laughed, "You sure eat a lot Tyson! You, me and Gary should have an eating contest someday!"

"You're on!" Exclaimed the boy. Renna and Kai both made a sound of disgust.

"Are we going up to our rooms or not?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Smiled Ray hopping up. The others followed suit.

"AAH-HHHhhhhh…I'm so tired." Yawned Mirra. "Come on Lee!" She took his hand and pulled him out of the restaurant. "Well good-night guys!" She smiled, standing by the staircase which led to the western wing of the hotel where the White Tigers were staying.

"Yeah, sleep tight!" Hilary grinned, hugging the other girl tightly.

"You too." Mirra told her brightly, hugging back.

"'Night Mirra." Kaoru gave the girl a hug too which she happily returned.

"Um…" Hilary paused in front of Renna. She hadn't gotten to know the blond as well as she had Mirra but it seemed rude not to say good-night to the both of them. "Good-night Renna." Hilary said shyly and bowed politely.

Renna's eyes became downcast but she smiled slightly anyway and bowed back, "Good-night Hilary."

Hilary then hugged Mariah, a brief confirmation of shopping plans passing between the two before they broke apart.

"Good night guys!" Smiled Hilary to the other White Tigers before stepping back to join the other BladeBreakers.

Kaoru hugged Mariah, "Night!" she then turned to Renna and wrapped the girl in a tight hug. "Have a good sleep!"

Renna's eyes widened. Slowly she wrapped an arm around the other girl and mumbled embarrassedly. "You too."

Kaoru pulled away and was rewarded by catching a tiny glimmer of a smile on the blond's face before she turned and went to stand behind her team obviously done with good-nights. But from over Lee's shoulder Kaoru could see the girl's eyes still shining in a way that seemed to say 'Thank you.'

Ray said a quick good night to his old team before both the BladeBreakers and White Tigers made their way up to their respective rooms.

* * *

"So we all understand what's happening?" Asked Kenny for the fifth time. "We have five rooms, seven people. That means that four people will have to share a room. Which means two rooms will be shared. Do you understand Tyson?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And we've decided that it makes sense for both girls to get their own room - "

"_We_ didn't decide that. You guys decided that. I want my own room."

"You can have my room if you want Tyson." Smiled Kaoru, eager to stop the fight and get to bed. "I'll just sleep with Ma - "

"_You_ are not sleeping in the same room as any, _any_, male until you are married. And that male will be the one you're married to."

"I'm not getting married." Muttered Kaoru frustrated, "But sure, whatever. Just don't say I didn't offer." She pouted.

Kai sighed. "We decided that the spare room would be for Kenny so that he could concentrate on his work and wouldn't have a noisy room-mate," Kai looked pointedly at Tyson, "disturbing him. I, however, won't be so lucky."

Ray sweatdropped. "Come on. I'm not that bad."

Kaoru laughed. "Well I'm off!" She stated, planting a kiss on Tyson's cheek and enveloping Hilary in a tight hug. She kissed Chief lightly on the top of the head causing the boy to blush crimson before waving to the others, "Night guys!" And disappearing into her room.

"Yeah." Muttered Kai. "I'm going to bed too. By the way, there's training tomorrow," he finished.

"Okay, I'm off." Ray excused himself quickly after hearing about training.

"Yeah, me too." Agreed Tyson.

"Me three." Added Max and the three of them retreated to their rooms.

"Well I guess we'd better knock of too, eh Chief?" Hilary bent a little to properly converse with the vertically challenged boy.

"Nah. I have a bit of work to do. But you go Hilary, I'll be right. And you need to rest up for tomorrow. Night." He flipped open Dizzy.

Hilary smiled. "Good night Kenny." She disappeared into her room.

* * *

Kai lay in the rose garden behind his house. The warm spring wind lifted his hair lightly from his face and blew it about. The fact that the roses around him were red would come as no surprise to anyone who knew Kai. Red was his favourite colour and red roses were his favourite roses.

He wore a white top with a picture of a beyblade on it and a pair of dark blue baggy shorts. A childish smile curled his lips and he closed his eyes blissfully, enjoying the feeling of lying under the perfect blue sky.

Young though he was, Kai managed to enjoy a day like this, and the simple pleasure of sitting in one's garden on a day like this, as much as any adult. Even if the day happened to be as exciting as this. But maybe that was because he was meant to act as though he didn't know what today was.

No. The reason he sat as he did on a day such as this was because he was playing a game. And to all children games come first.

Kai heard a thud as something heavy sat beside him and let his smile evolve into a fully-fledged grin. He cracked an eye open, he had won.

"Yeah, yeah." The familiar feminine voice met Kai's ears, "You win…ya little cheat."

Kai sat up and turned his head to face the profile of an older woman. Her deep crimson eyes, the spitting image of his own, stared far off into the distance. A light smile graced her ruby red lips.

"What?" She turned her head to face him, trademark lop-sided grin falling into place and eyes closing happily, "Gonna gloat now?" Kai only smirked.

In contrast to Kai, his mother's favourite colour was blue. She loved the ocean, and the sky (she always said that Kai was the ocean and his father was the sky). Her room was blue. Her towel was blue. Kai had brought her a blue necklace for her fortieth birthday and she wore it day in and day out.

Some days, days like today for example, mother and son would come into their massive garden to play. The ran around together and chased each other, they explored the mini jungle their gardener had created for them, they splashed about in the Koi pond and disturbed the fish, they wrestled in the soft, squigy grass, they climbed trees and practised summersaults and picked unripe fruit and had fun.

Then Kai would run and hide. His mother would search for him, and, inevitably, come up empty. She would retire to the white roses (as there were no blue roses) and Kai would go to the red roses. One of two things would happen. Either his mother would grow to miss him, or Kai would become bored, then they'd go get the other and thus would the game conclude. It was usually the elder who lost, as she simply couldn't stand to be parted from her son.

_He's just too damn cute!_ She thought happily, letting a hand fall down upon his unruly hair to mess it up more.

Kai laughed and his mother smiled.

She was beautiful, a fact that few could deny, but it was an odd kind of beauty. His father said, 'God was taking a break and sketching ideas, when suddenly a beautiful lady was staring back at him. "That'll do." He said, and promptly made her so.'

Indeed, it did look like she had been fashioned quickly, and yet precisely. With a craftsman's hand, some would say. And something that Kai liked to think, was that she was a different kind of beautiful at every different angle.

Her name was Layna Hiwatari. She had slate blue hair that fell in shaggy layers around her face and to her shoulders. She had perfect crimson eyes, the duplicate of her sons, and a beautiful, happy smile that made it near impossible not to smile looking at her. Kai had decided that her pure, childish laugh would put the angels to shame.

Around her neck was a beaded blue necklace her son had brought her and around her finger was the white gold ring her husband had given her. She wore a simple black V-neck jumper over a tan top and a pair of dark blue coloured jeans.

She leant forward and pressed her forehead against her son's, sighing happily and looking deep into his red eyes. "Kai." She breathed.

He smiled. "Mama. Dad's coming home today isn't he?" Kai watched amusedly as his mother's eyes widened unbelievingly and she sat back.

"Now what gave you that idea, pray tell?"

"I can see it! Every time Dad comes home you're all happy and you laugh more and your eyes keep staring off into the distance."

His mother smirked. "Now Kai. I'm always happy, I laugh more than anyone you know and I continuously space out. What makes today any different?"

"I dunno." He admitted "You just seem different. I think Dad's coming home. Is he?"

"Ah…" A pretty blush touched her cheeks and she rubbed the back of her neck embarrassedly "Well I don't know. Why would he tell me?"

"Mu-um!" Kai whined.

Kai's fathers name was Ryu Shinsetu. The man worked very hard for his family, and as such, was rarely home. During these stretches, Kai found it hard to remember the him, being as young as he was. What Kai knew, was that his mother was happier when his father was there. He didn't know him well, couldn't remember him when he was away but he knew his mother loved him dearly. And so Kai loved him for that reason.

"HEY!" Both mother and child turned their heads to the rose garden gate. There stood a man more than twice Kai's hight and at least a head taller than Layna. He was well built and sported a warm jacket and white scarf and a baggy pair of kahki pants. His hair was two-toned, thick black bangs with a stubby little dark blue pony-tail at the bottom. He had beautiful deep blue eyes and a big happy grin. (6)

Kai heard his mother suck in a breath before jumping up and running, full-bolt, head down, legs racing and grinning all the way. "RYU!" She launched her self into his arms to be swept up and swung around. She laughed happily as the wind raced through her hair and light shone in his eyes. He set her down on the ground and placed a firm kiss to her lips before looking over to his son.

"Kai! Ma main man!" Kai blinked. Suddenly, as if a dam had broken in his mind memories began to flow back into Kai. This man, his father, picking him up, spinning him around, laughing, playing, poking fun at him like all good fathers did. His eyes widened.

"DADDY!" He ran at the man jumping into his arms, childish tears spilling down his cheeks. His father laughed and lifted him up high, placing the small boy on his shoulders after a firm hug.

"How have ya been sport?" Kai wiped his eyes hurriedly and held onto the man's head as he began walking back up to the house. Against his will, for after all he was only a child, he began to tell his father every detail of everything that had happened since they had last seen each other. His mother walked on the other side holding his father's hand contentedly.

A big happy family walked back into the Hiwatari estate, small boy, big dad, happy mum. Together again.

* * *

Sixteen year-old Kai woke alone and sat up breathing heavily, shaking, large shameful tears spilling down his cheeks.

* * *

Oh my god. Put up your hand if you hate me for leaving it there! -puts up hand- But that's where this chappie ends unfortunately. Sorry my lovely little readers. My most humblest apologies.

(1)- Cornflakes – Yup. Cornflakes. Anyone who doesn't know what they are can send me a message but the point is I DON'T OWN THEM! I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! I'M A POOR DEPRIVED CHILD! No. Not really. But don't sue me. Or I will be.

(2) - One knee bent and the other extended in an advanced fighting position that would have surely brought him to his knees. - Not sure if it's an 'advanced fighting position' not sure if it would have brought him to his knees. Whatever. Live with it. It sounds good.

(3) - Our flight to Beijing will take approximately two hours and forty-five minutes. / …the movie Aeon Flux and Memoirs of a Geisha, a multitude of games to play (you'll find the controls on the back of the TV remote) and a music station for all tastes. - BWAHA! I looked all this up and that's the exact time it takes to get to Beijing from Tokyo and that's the movies they have showing right now (I don't own them). There are games and music stations. Yes. I'm proud of myself.

(3a) - They embraced again (Ray and Lee). - NOT A YAOI. Duh. Oh and yes, this is note 3a but it has no relation to note 3. I just made two 3's so I had to change one. Yup.

(4) - Kaoru carting her big purple suitcase - I HAVE THAT SUITCASE! Yeah…I just wanted to point that out. Go me. Useless trivia -grins-.

(5) - But blue roses didn't exist, at least not naturally. - [Note from Soi's dad - scientists have spent years trying to breed blue roses using genetic engineering, but it didn't work.] Uh…huh…thanks dad.

(6) - He sported a warm jacket and white scarf and a baggy pair of kakhi pants. - So …where do you think Kai got his infamous white scarf from huh?

Wow. A lot of A/n's for this chap and there were actually a few more I was thinking about adding…hmm…

So? What's the verdict? Apart from the "DAMN YOU SOI! DAMN YOU!" type ending, I thought it was pretty good. -nods- In my own personal opinion, it's my best so far.

But yesh. Tell me what you think, I'm keen to know and that, of course, means REVIEW!

_You know you want to_ -waggles eyebrows-


	7. Circles Part I: 180

-Ducks various thrown objects- Um…sorry? I know it's not really much of an excuse, but if you're interested, the reason that this took so long was that when I wrote it, I really hated it…

…So I practically re-wrote the whole thing. Haha…ha…anyway.

The good news is that I like it now! Yay! I hope you guys will too.

Ok. **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE BELOW!**

**1. **If anyone's wondering **what Kaoru looks like**, then I do have a drawing of her. If you're interested then let me know in a review and leave an e-mail address I can send attachments too.

**2.** I've recently posted a **new one-shot** on ff (dot) net called "Forget Me Not". I've gotten some pretty good reviews for it and if you enjoy this story then (in my own opinion) FMN is written much better. Please check it out if you want.

**3. **If you like my writing and would like to read more, there are two short stories I've written that I don't plan on posting on ff (dot) net. One is called "Pocket Watch" and the other is "Argument." Leave an e-mail address where attachments can be sent if you're interested.

OKAY! Oh! And just one more thing! I know how hard it can be to come up with teams and stuff if you're writing a tournament story, and half of the time you're just like "Stuff it." and make up something haphazardly that has no real character value and is just there to fill space (Oh, I've been there.)

In this chapter you'll find a team that I spent a lot of time thinking about and giving interest to. And because I know how hard it can be to think up teams, as a gift to my beautiful readers, I'd like to invite you to use my team if you're writing a tournament story. Just tell me if you'd like to, and don't forget to disclaim them to me.

On the same note, I was planning to do a small KaixRenna thing, but I've decided against it. If you think Renna and Kai make a good couple then by all means feel free to write a story about them. Once again, tell me if you want to and disclaim to me.

This chap's for **DarkTrenital**! DT reviews every chapter I post, and every story I post! Not only that, but she even said that she wants me to become a famous writer some day and that made me so happy! -Glompifies- THANKS YOU DT, for all your wonderful support and encouragement!

Read on!

* * *

**Circles Part I: 180.**

Kaoru's eyes fluttered open. She blinked.

_Here again._ She mused.

It was a calm day, the sky was blue and cloudless and a light breeze was blowing. The area was green and lush, long grass shifting a little in the wind, and wild flowers growing here and there, some places scarce, others in abundance.

In the centre of a little hill grew a large tree with perfectly green leaves and little white blossoms sprouting from every branch. The place seemed to hold some magic to it.

The wind suddenly rushed past Kaoru and lifted her hair, curling and uncurling it in the air. She closed her eyes in contentment. When the wind ceased, Kaoru stood up.

She was wearing a familiar, purple, silk dress. It was extremely light, and moved to and fro even in the now, near still air. Two sides crossed over at the bust, giving the dress a V-neck, then the outer side wrapped around the stomach twice and tied on the side. The skirt was very short, and rippled naturally around Kaoru's thighs. Despite the fact that the dress was very revealing, and very simple, it suited Kaoru perfectly. It was as though it had been made for her. As though _she_ had been made for _it. _As though they had been made together.

She opened her eyes and looked around the area again. The sun was very bright, the ghostly outline of the moon visible a little way away from it. The sunlight shone down on her, and picked up the silver flecks in her perfectly violet eyes as she looked around once more.

Aura appeared behind Kaoru in her true form. She pressed her back against the other girls' and took her hands. The way Aura was facing was towards the end of that? world. About fifty metres on, the land suddenly fell away into nothingness. The sky dissolved into darkness, speckled with colourful stars and the glow of galaxies. Aura looked upwards and smiled.

"Here again." She said, and felt Kaoru nod.

It wasn't like a recurring dream. She didn't end up in this place every night. But maybe once or twice a year, or even once a week sometimes, she would close her eyes and open them here.

"AH! Let me go!" As per usual, voices flooded the plain.

"Come on Hari! You're so slow!" A little girl appeared, giggling and dragging a small boy with her.

"Let go Riri! You're hurting me!"

The girl did as he asked, spun on her toes and jumped on him. Tackling him to the ground.

"Ah!" He complained as he fell.

"Tag! You're it!" She laughed joyously and prepared to run.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. They began to play wrestle among the flowers.

Two more children appeared over the top of the hill. A little older than the ones wrestling in the flowers, about ten or eleven.

"Hari! Riri!" Called out the older girl, "Don't be too rough! You'll hurt each other!"

"K!" Was the answer she received.

Giggling, she shook her head and looked over at her male companion. "They never do learn."

He smiled back at her. "They'll grow out of it. I'm sure we were the same when we were small."

"Mm." Nodded the girl happily, and looked fondly back towards the youngsters.

The little boy had black hair, pale skin and a pair of amazingly pale teal blue eyes. He wore a small white gi. The girl was almost his opposite. She had white hair, tanned skin and almost black, chocolate brown eyes. She, in turn, wore a small black gi.

As they wrestled, petals flew into the air, and danced around them.

The older girl sighed happily, sweeping her long blue hair into a ponytail, and tying it with a white ribbon. Careful, so as not to get it dirty, she held her blue kimono down, and sat, neatening the creases so as to show off the white floral print. (1)

A minute later she sighed again, less happily, and let her sapphire blue eyes, slip closed.

"Anything wrong?"

"No. Nothing." She lied, folding her small, silvery wings.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing important."

"Yuriyu."(2)

"The lord isn't here yet. And he expects me to learn form manipulation today."

"He thinks highly of you."

"Too highly."

The boy smiled and sat next to her, not nearly so careful with his red ukata, the fine gold lining creasing where he sat. (1)

"Oujahi."

"Mm?"

"What if…Haha! Your ukata is all bunched up!" She reached out and straightened it gently.

"What if?"

His golden eyes bored into her blue ones.

She blushed.

"What if…no…nothing."

She laughed dismissively and began to run her hands through his hair, straightening the rebellious crimson red locks. His gold wings shifted uncomfortably.

He snorted at the useless question and took her pale hand in his tanned one, gently removing it from his hair.

She only laughed more at the sceptical look on his face.

"Don't pull my hair Riri! OW! Hey! I said _don't _pull it!"

The little boy broke out of his friend's grasp and began to run from her, she laughed and began to pursue, chasing him towards the edge of the world.

Kaoru smiled.

Suddenly the boy on the hill stood up, his long red hair swaying and falling back into place. He kept a close eye on the little boy.

"Hari! Hari!" Called out the little girl, the boy was fast and was gradually leaving her behind.

Suddenly he stopped. His mouth dropped slightly and he raised a hand cautiously to where Kaoru stood. She dropped to her knees and his gaze followed.

"Can you see me, Hari?" She asked quietly.

A man appeared next to her and she looked up at him. He was like an older version of the little boy. He smiled down gently at his younger self.

"Hajari." Greeted Kaoru. (2)

"Kaoru. Aura." He greeted them also.

The little boy looked from one to another, confused.

"Hajari!" A beautiful masculine voice filled the plain. The boy turned and, seemingly forgetting Kaoru and his older self, ran towards the man who had called him.

"I heard you made the BladeBreakers." Commented the elder Hajari casually.

"Have you been spying on me Hajari?"

"Spying is a rather crude way to put it, m'lady."

She scoffed. "You can't honestly expect me to believe the Great Spirit of Light has nothing better to do than monitor my progress in the world of beybladeing. And don't call me _lady_." She made a gagging sound.

The man laughed. "And how might you be doing, Miss Aura?"

"I'm doing fabulously thank you."

"Oh?"

"But of course. I'm being made to fight battles of little to no importance in which I am permitted to use only half of my power at best. I'm stuck with some "Phoenix of Fire" which thinks it's all that but seriously has no clue, and its idiotic partner who Kaoru has a crush on. I'm peachy."

Kaoru scoffed.

"Careful." Hajari reprimanded her gently. "Feelings like that are dangerous for you."

"I know. Aura's exaggerating, I assure you."

"Mm." The man nodded, letting the subject rest for now.

"Gonyami." Kaoru muttered bitterly. (2)

Hajari followed her gaze to the man in question and smiled sadly. His younger self was clinging to the man's leg happily. Those days were now like a foggy memory to him.

Gonyami gently broke free from the small boy's grip and made his way towards the flowers. He wore an old, traditional and extremely elaborate yukata. His hair was long and black and plaited loosely. At the front, two sizable bangs fell from a central parting and shone blue where the sun hit them. He had brilliant, violet eyes, speckled with silver that shimmered every time the light caught them.

He bent down to the massacred flowers and gently took a petal between his fingers, it glowed violet for a second, before breaking free from his grasp. It floated through the air, tendrils of the same violet light forming and reforming around it. The tendrils elongated, and attached themselves to a flower missing one of its blue petals. Slowly, the light receded, and the petal was left in its place, the flower now undamaged.

As Gonyami stood, the petals around him rose, and the same events transpired. He began to walk back to the children on the hill, a flower growing in each footprint he made.

"Now you two be careful of my flowers, won't you." He patted the children's heads gently.

"Yes sir!" They agreed.

Kaoru snorted in disgust. "I'm going. I'll see you later Hajari."

"What exactly is it you have against Gonyami?"

She frowned, walking purposefully to the end of the world.

"I will not forgive him."

Hajari cringed ever so slightly. It was the venomous hatred that was expelled with that sentence that made him truly fear her.

Truly fear ever, _ever_ telling her the truth.

* * *

Tyson yawned. 

"Hey Tyson." Greeted Ray with a smile. "You're up surprisingly early."

"Breakfast smells good." Drawled Tyson, nose raised sniffing the air.

"Haha. Yeah!" Max grinned, "Ray made PANCAKES!"

"Mmmm. You rock, Ray!" Tyson sat down at the counter.

"Yeah, yeah." Ray smiled, piling Tyson's plate high with pancakes and toping them off with a generous handful of blueberries and a dollop of cream.

"Yum!" Tyson exclaimed before beginning on the colossal stack of pancakes.

"You're such a pig." Put in Hilary casually.

"Hey Kai," began Tyson, putting another piece of pancake in his mouth, chewing, swallowing and continuing with, "Do we have training today."

Ray blinked. "Ah Tyson…Kai's not up yet."

The boy choked.

"Wadda ya mean, "He's not up"? He gets up at…like…6:00 and I _know_ it ain't that early!"

"Well yeah. That's true." Muttered Ray, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "But when I woke up this morning he was sleeping really soundly so I just left him there. I figured he'd be up in no time but here it is, two hours later. Actually I'm a bit worried."

"Mmm." Hilary nodded. "And Kaoru's not up either."

"What?! Kay's still sleeping?! You don't think…" He trailed off then gulped and continued fearfully, "You don't think they…_did _anything…do you?" (3)

"Did anything?" Max blinked innocently and Ray blushed deep red.

"Now Tyson. Let's not jump to any conclusions. They probably just - "

"I SWEAR! IF HE TOUCHED A HAIR ON HER HEAD I'LL - "

Two doors opened at the same time and banged against the walls behind them. Two people stood in them, one in either doorway. The BladeBreakers blinked.

Kaoru, clad in her black, white and purple PJ's, yawned. Her hair was messed up, eyes tired, shoulders drooping. One arm hung lazily beside her and the other covered her mouth.

Kai rubbed at one, tired, scrunched up eye. A pair of baggy, red, comfortable looking pants hung loosely around his hips revealing bright blue boxers and a equally baggy, loose black singlet completed the look. His hand clumsily travelled over his nose to his other eye and rubbed it as well.

They began walking towards the bathroom and, upon arriving there, banged into on another. For a moment they remained that way before blinking, stepping back, muttering "Sorry" and trying again. They ended up with the same result.

"Ah…Kaoru…" began Hilary, amused. She took Kaoru's arm lightly, effectively immobilising the girl so that this time when Kai tried to claim the bathroom he had no troubles. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" Muttered the tired Kaoru, "Yeh…yeh. I'm fine."

"Did you not sleep well? Were you too cold? Or did you have a bad dream?"

"Mm. Yes. A bad dream."

Kai vacated toilet and headed back towards his bedroom stiffly as Kaoru trudged into the bathroom.

"You okay Kai?" called Ray.

The boy in question dismissed it with a lazy wave of his hand, "Bad sleep."

"Ah. Bad dream?"

His door banged. The BladeBreakers blinked and looked at each other questioningly. It was then that Kaoru emerged from the bathroom and in turn ventured back to her room.

"Um…should we be worried?"

Before anyone could answer both Kai and Kaoru emerged from their respective rooms. Kai wore his usual attire and Kaoru had on a purple, off-the-shoulder, top with a black, lace v-neck collar, a pair of beige coloured jeans and her hair up in a half pony-tail. They made their way towards the counter.

"Breakfast." Stated Kaoru and smiled. She looked much more alive than she had minutes before.

"What?" asked Ray tremendously confused by the whole thing.

"Breakfast." Kai raised an eyebrow; his tone indicating that he thought Ray was an idiot. "You know? Food you have in the morning? Tyson just stuffed his face with it? It smells good?"

"Ah…right." Ray filled two plates and watched as both teens wolfed their's down.

"You can take the morning off." Said Kai surprising them, "The tournament starts in two hours."

"Right!"

* * *

"WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME BEYBLADEING FANS TO GORGEOUS BEIJING! TODAY IS THE VERY FIRST DAY OF THE WORLD CHAMPION TOURNAMENT!" 

Cheers arose from the audience.

"I BET YOU'RE ALL WONDERING WHAT EXITING NEW RULES AND GAME PLAY THE BBA WILL BE INTRODUCING? AM I RIGHT?"

Further cheers arose.

"AND I BET YOU ALL WANNA MEET THE NEW TEAMS AND NEW BLADERS?"

"_The BladeBreakers Rule!"_

"AND I _KNOW_ YOU ALL WANNA SEE SOME BEYBLADEING ACTION! SO HERE'S MR. STANLEY DICKENSON OF THE BBA! LET'S GET DOWN TO IT!"

Mr Dickenson took the stage. "Yes, yes, thank you very much." He laughed and cleared his throat. "This year the BBA has decided to change things a little. I know there has been much speculation on the issue, and I've heard many a rumour. Someone even asked me if it was true that we'd have anvils suspended above our bladers that would come crashing down on the loser." Many people laughed, some just smiled. A select few sheepishly shrunk down into their seats, looking embarrassed.

"I'm afraid though, I must inform you that 90 of these rumours are untrue. Simply put, we have revised the old tournament game play and found it insufficient in crowning a champion. For this reason we have made changes. This new era will be referred to as the Beyblade Revolution and this Tournament will be, as of now, called the Beyblade Revolution Tournament as it is the first time these rules will be revealed."

The crowd waited with bated breath.

In the wings, the teams were buzzing with excitement, awaiting their chance to appear on stage.

Kai, in contrast, was bored. He was leaning on the wall, eyes closed, when suddenly the little TV flickered on.

Suddenly everyone went silent. Kai cracked an eye open just in time to see Mr. Dickenson take the mike from Jazzman.

"Beyblade Revolution, huh?" Kaoru echoed the TV, "Sounds fun, doncha think, Kai-kun?" She smiled at him, and unknowingly attracted the attention of the room. There was almost no one who dared speak to Kai Hiwatari. Much less call him Kai-_kun _and (shock-horror) smile at him.

"Hn." The boy replied monotonously and closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore his annoying team-mate.

Kaoru huffed angrily and then in a bold move, stuck her tongue out at the stoic blader. The rest of the room chuckled at her antics. The great Kai Hiwatari had been humiliated. And he didn't even know.

"Beyblade Revolution tests six main areas." Said TV Mr. Dickenson. "The first is strength. In blader and blade."

Tyson laughed cockily. "Nothing to it!" He bragged.

"Agility. To dodge and attack and master the speed a beyblade can produce."

This time Tyson only let out a small, almost sheepish laugh. "Well that one could use some work…but I mean…it's not that big of a deal right?" Kai rolled his eyes.

"Knowledge. Not just of your blade but of yourself and your team and your opposition. This is a big issue in the Beyblade Revolution. Knowledge of your ability, where it begins and ends, of your team-mate's ability, of your blade, of theirs, of your opponent's, and even more than that! Your knowledge will be tested. Again and again. Be prepared."

Tyson's jaw dropped.

"Too bad." Muttered Kai smugly. "And you were going so well too."

Everyone laughed.

"Lateral thinking. You have to be able to exploit whatever little knowledge you have and use that to your advantage. You have to be able to think outside the box, be able to get yourself out of sticky situations with little to no assistance."

"Ah crap. That's my worst!" Muttered some boy in the back.

"Mine too!" Agreed a girl with curly pink hair.

"Strategy. This one goes without saying. But don't think it will be a walk in the park just because you already practice it. Oh no. You're going to seriously re-think usual strategies for this tournament. And last, but certainly not least, in fact probably the very most important. Teamwork. I cannot possibly stress how important team work is. It will make or break you."

The crowd was silent.

"The game play will be revealed as it appears throughout the tournament. So keep a look out."

A cheer arose.

Mr. Dickenson smiled. "And so, without further ado, let's bring out the teams!"

He handed the mike to DJ Jazzman. The crowd roared. "FIRST AND FOREMOST, PLEASE WELCOME, THE ONE, THE ONLY, MY PEEPS, THE WORLD CHAMPION BLADEBREAKERS! RE-UNITED! GIVE IT UP!"

In the wings Tyson jumped. "AH! That's us! RUN!" And run he did.

"KAI, TYSON, RAY, MAX, HILARY, KAORU AND KENNY!"

Kai shook his head and Hilary laughed running after him and enjoying the new found attention.

It was Tyson and Hilary that came on stage first, Hilary skipping along happily and smiling and Tyson yelling various things at the audience. They grinned at each other.

Kaoru, Ray, Max and Kenny appeared next all smiling and waving and laughing. Kai followed behind, head up, shoulders back, looking confident and (if one had actually paid close enough attention) smiling.

The BladeBreakers lined up in their allocated space, Tyson and Max still waving to the audience and blowing kisses. Hilary, over the preliminary excitement, sweat-dropped.

"They're _so_ embarrassing!" She whined.

"Welcome to my life." Muttered Kai quietly earning a giggle from Kaoru and Hilary, a chuckle from Ray and two looks from two embarrassing boys that said something along the lines of 'You're no fun.'

"THE ELITES!" Exclaimed DJ Jazzman and in pilled a huge group of bladers. There must have been eight!

They stood next to the BladeBreakers.

"AARON, ABIGAIL, EBONY, LACHLAN, MAKAN, PATRICK, SOPHIE AND LITTLE TAI!"

"I AIN'T LITTLE!" Came a shout over the racket.

DJ Jazzman waved a hand dismissively, letting a little cheesy grin spread across his face as if addressing a little child. "No. No of course not! ANYWAY!" DJ Jazzman began to announce the other teams but the BladeBreakers' attention was elsewhere.

They looked across at their competition. In front stood a tall blond boy. A smirk was curling his lips and his entire focus was on the bey-dish in front of them. Kaoru's eyes narrowed. He looked tough.

Suddenly the blond boy's head tipped to the side and his eyes met Kai's unflinchingly, his smirk growing. Kai met his gaze and glared. The boy smirked further and turned back to looking at the bey dish, almost saying 'You are not worthy to stand in my line of vision.' Kai fumed.

"He must be the captain", whispered Ray and the others nodded.

"Easy there." Kaoru put a hand on Kai's shoulder; the boy just shrugged her off and looked away defiantly.

Behind the blond boy stood a red haired boy with a quirky smile on his face and an arm around a blushing brown haired girl.

_He must be her boyfriend. _Thought Hilary.

The red head suddenly grinned further and whispered something in the girls' ear, she in turn went completely red, hands flying to her cheeks. A tall boy with shaggy dark blue hair held in a low pony-tail shrugged helplessly as a black haired girl beside him stuck her finger to her tongue in disgust. The blue haired boy lifted one fist and deftly hit the red head on the noggin. The boy paused in his tracks then wobbled slowly to the floor. The blue haired boy and black haired girl high-fived.

A dark blond girl with a good build and a smile on her face came up to the brunette and patted her lightly on the back, laughing all the while. The brown haired girl smiled embarrassedly and nodded. A little girl with impossibly orange pig tails laughed childishly and bent besides the collapsed red head to poke him.

"Silly Pat!" The BladeBreakers heard. "You know Abi's not into you!"

The BladeBreakers blinked. So this meant that the red head was Pat, or Patrick and the brunette was Abi, Abigail.

"Tai." Reprimanded a very tall, well built, black haired boy gently, bending down to put a hand on the youngster's head. "Leave the dumb-ass be."

"I wasn't hurting him Maka! Honest!"

The boy smiled. "So you say."

"Spoil sport."

"And proud of it."

Makan, the black haired boy, stood up and looked over to the BladeBreakers, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'Yes?'

Kaoru and Hilary blushed. He was…HOT! Hotter than Kai even! Hotter than…well…anything. "Hey…" Both girls breathed.

The boys other eyebrow shot up to meet the first.

Tai laughed. "More girls in love with Maka."

"Shh." He looked at her softly.

"K!"

He looked back at them with a winning smile in place then back to DJ Jazzman.

The girls sighed and leant on one another for support. Tyson smouldered.

"I _really_ don't like that guy."

"Only cause your sister and the girl you like think he's hot."

"So?!"

The others raised a brow.

"I mean…I don't like her!"

"Uh-huh."

"THE WHITE TIGERS!" Announced Jazzman, and the BladeBreakers turned to watch their friends walk into the arena.

Mirra and Lee walked together happily, Mariah chatted animatedly with a bored Kevin and Gary contented himself with smiling and waving at the audience.

Renna walked at the back of the group bothering neither to look up nor to smile.

They took their place on stage.

"The Elites look like they'll be fun." Commented Ray casually.

"Yeah! I hope we get to face them!" Agreed Max

"AND FINALLY, THE STARLET CHARLOTTES!"

Five girls bounded on enthusiastically. One had pink hair, the others black, blond, dark-blue and reddy-brown. They waved at Kai who was horrified to find that the lowest skirt of the group was a good six inches above the knee and the highest neck line…well let's put it this way…it wouldn't have been called a _neck_ line.

"Hey!" Kaoru teased, nudging Kai gently in the side, "They could be a lot a' fun too, huh?" She smirked.

"You _dare_ even _mention _my name in the vicinity of those girls," he hissed venomously, "and I _swear_ I'll give you _quadruple _training for a _month_. Starting at five in the morning. And I promise I'm not kidding. Or would you care to test me?"

Kaoru looked scared but defiant. "But I know some of those girls!" Kai's eyes widened and he face-faulted.

_This girl…this girl is…IMPOSSIBLE! She'll be the death of me for sure._

"OH DEAR ME!" DJ Jazzman raised a hand to his brow as if looking far into the distance. "WE SEEM TO HAVE A CAPTAIN DOWN!"

Kai stood, vein popping on his head.

"You okay Kai?" questioned Kaoru, concerned.

Slowly, in shaky little movements Kai's head turned to Kaoru, the look in his crazed, twitching eyes scared her into jumping back. "_Fine-"_ He assured her, a small but decidedly maniacal grin quirking his usually calm features.

"Hehe…okay…"

"NOW LET'S PROCEED WITH THE OPENING CEREMONY! BLADEBREAKERS?" The team in question stepped up to where DJ Jazzman stood upon the closed off bey-dish.

After Kai had made a brief (in fact brief would have been exaggerating) speech, the BladeBreakers were asked to renounce their title as World Champions. They did so happily, but not before promising to win it back. Then Tyson took the stage and proclaimed that his title of World Champ was up for grabs. The crowd cheered loudly as the BladeBreakers returned to their place.

"Oh, and by the way." Tyson said suddenly, turning and taking the mike again. "Just so you all don't get your hopes up too high, I'll be taking that title back."

A few dozen challenges rose from the surrounding teams, and even his own team. Tyson smirked, his job done.

* * *

"HAHA! That's was so much fun!" Exclaimed Hilary happily, twirling through the foyer. 

Kaoru nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It really was!"

"The Elites." Ray remarked lightly and the girls stopped where they were, looking out to where the group of bladers stood.

"Let's go and introduce ourselves!" Tyson smiled, running over. "Hey!" he exclaimed, holding out a hand to the captain. "I'm Tyson."

The blond boy smirked. "Hey. I don't care." Tyson's jaw dropped.

"SAY WHAT!"

"Kai Hiwatari is it?" The boy ignored Tyson and looked behind him at Kai.

"That's right." Kai placed a hand firmly on Tyson's shoulder warning the boy to calm down. "And you are?"

"Aaron Hatten. I'd like a word if you don't mind."

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Regarding our teams and the tournament." Aaron added sensing Kai's suspicion. "If you're not too busy."

"I'm not." Kai looked behind him to his team. They looked at him curiously. "I suppose five minutes wouldn't hurt." He turned back to Aaron. "Our teams can get acquainted."

"Let's go then."

Kai nodded and let the other boy lead him away.

"So…" Kaoru began. "Hi! I'm Kaoru."

"Hey there!" The red head 'Pat' pushed his way to the front of the group. "I'm Pat! What's up?"

"Not much. Yourself?"

"Mentally preparing myself for training."

"Harsh."

"Yeah."

"Anyway. This is Tyson and that's Hilary, the girl he likes."

"Cool."

"I DON'T LIKE HER!"

"That's Abi. The girl I like." He smiled cheekily, pointing to the brown haired girl who sweat-dropped and put a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"You're such an idiot." The boy with shaggy blue hair hit Pat over the head and he wobbled to the ground. "I'm Lachlan. This is Ebony, my little sis." He pointed to the black haired girl who nodded curtly.

"I'm sorry about Pat." Came a shy voice from the back of the group. "He's silly sometimes." It was Abigail.

"Hey," Kaoru began "are you two going out then?"

She blushed. "N-no."

"Oh. Why not?"

"Ah…well…for one, Aaron forbids dating within the team and then it's also because of Pat. He sort of hits on every girl with a big chest."

Kaoru laughed. "Damn, don't you hate boys like that?"

"Tell me about it!" The busty blond appeared from the back of the group with a smile on her face. "But Pat's the worst easily! He can't keep his hands to himself!" She laughed. "Oh! I'm Sophie by the way!"

"Nice to meet you." Ray stepped forward. "I'm Ray."

"And I'm Max." Max grinned.

"Nice to meet you too!" Sophie smiled.

"Makan." The little girl named Tai pulled on the tall black haired boys trouser leg. "Makan, introduce me, k?"

The boy smiled gently and rolled his eyes. "This is Tai." He said and the girl waved. "And I'm Makan."

"Uh-huh." Muttered Kaoru and Hilary, eyes blank and starry.

Sophie laughed at their expressions. "All girls love Maka." She remarked lightly causing Kaoru and Hilary to break from their stupor and blush. "But actually he's major playboy! Trust me," she laughed, "I've been there." The boy pouted.

"Aw. C'mon Soph, don't ruin my chance with these lovely ladies."

"I'll give ya '_lovely ladies'_!" Tyson growled and stood angrily in front of Kaoru.

"Why yes, please do." Makan bent down to Tyson's height and cracked a perfect smile.

The boy fumed, ready to explode, when Hilary pushed him aside.

"Hahah! Don't you worry about Tyson! He's just jealous." She smiled coyly.

"With a girl as beautiful as you on his team I can see why."

"Down lover boy." Smirked Lachlan, as his sister took a fistful of the boys' hair and yanked him backwards.

"Ow."

"Really," Sophie assured them, "You _don't _want to go there. Tai is the _only _girl he wants to know for more than a week."

"Yup!" The girl smiled.

"Here they come." Observed Makan quietly from his upside-down, back to front, point of view. "Tai, wake Pat up."

"Can do!" She poked him a few times in the cheeks and the boy began to stir.

"Aaron!"

"Don't yell Sophie." Muttered Lachlan quietly next to her. The girl nodded.

"Let's go." Aaron commented upon reaching them, not bothering to say a word to the BladeBreaker. He nodded to Kai and walked away. "And Sophie, don't yell in future please."

"What was that about?" Kaoru asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry. You have until three, then we're training." Various groans followed.

* * *

The gym in the basement of the hotel was where the BladeBreakers and White Tigers had trained that afternoon. It had been a particularly hard training session with not one, but two captains pushing the teams to their limits. 

Kai had been focused solely on Kaoru, determined to get revenge for his embarrassment at the opening ceremony. He had put the girl though a set of workouts that would have had even he, himself out of breath, but, to his great annoyance, she had risen to every challenge and appeared only slightly puffed afterwards.

She had then smirked and asked if he thought he'd need to test her strength in combat or was that all he had. Kai had sneered and remarked that he didn't fight girls and Kaoru had swung a punch at him. He dodged so that instead of hitting its target, his nose, her fist merely grazed his cheek. He struck back and she dodged. This continued for a while before Kai managed to hit Kaoru's shoulder.

Tyson sprang up accusing Kai of beating up his little sister and threw a punch at the boys face. Kai had dodged but given Kaoru the opportunity she needed to hit him in the stomach. It was a hard blow too and caused Kai to halt momentarily. In that instant Hilary had hefted herself over to the fight, hit Tyson deftly on the head and taken hold of both Kai and Kaoru's ears dragging them over to "Time-out". (4)

Time-out consisted of both Kai and Kaoru sitting in the father most corner of the gym, pouting, ignoring each other, eyes closed and noses held in the air.

Not a minute had passed before Kai stood and announced he simply could not stand to spend a second longer existing in the same room as "that obnoxious, egotistical, infuriating excuse for a human." Then he had promptly left.

Kaoru had stuck out her tongue and informed him that he was, in fact, a "poo-head."

The others had laughed and before long Kaoru was joining in with them. She stubbornly refused to show them how much his comments had hurt her, and when the prickling sadness in her eyes had become too much she had laughingly excused herself to go to the toilet. Where she had sat in tears for the next fifteen minutes.

* * *

"Welcome back everybody to the first day of the tournament. I'm A.J. Topper - " 

" - And I'm Brad Best."

"That you are. As usual we've been blown away by the level of competition here today. Let's recap shall we?"

"Indeed we shall A.J.! First battle of the day was the White Tigers vs. the Southern Gunners. The White Tigers took this round with ease and have moved onto the next."

"So they have Brad, so they have. And then the Elites went against the Starlet Charlottes. The blading group of fan-girls performed better than was originally expected, winning the first round only to lose in the second and decider. What a shame."

"The BladeBreakers were up next, beating the Black Widows and…"

Max tuned out, his thoughts pulling him to more pressing matters. Like Kai and Kaoru for example.

One minute they were acting like good buddies (a word he thought he would never associate with Kai) and the next they're basically ignoring each other. What was the world coming to?

Had they had a falling out? Or were they simply not interested in talking?

It was puzzling to say the least. And so engrossing that Max almost missed it when his team was called up onto stage.

He hurried after them, glad to see his team mates were all looking as confused as he felt.

"BladeBreakers." Stated DJ Jazzman smugly, "Do you know why you're up here?"

"Have you told us?" Asked Kai bluntly.

"Well no…but anyway! We have your World Championship team out here today to help display for you the newest component of our tournament."

A murmur ran through the audience.

"Could we please have another willing team volunteer?"

"Are you implying we _were_ willing?" Asked Kai.

Jazzman smiled and covered the mike with one hand. "Quiet." He smiled, not looking at Kai.

"We'll volunteer!"

All attention was immediately directed at the speaker. The little red head, Tai.

"Brilliant!" Exclaimed Jazzman. "Just step right up here."

Pat and Sophie grinned and gave Tai a clap on the back, the other Elites just groaned and trudged up to the arena. Aaron followed proudly.

"I hope you know what you're getting us into Tai" Commented Makan lightly.

"No idea!" She smiled.

The elder boy rolled his eyes fondly.

"This is what's called a Battle Royal." Explained Jazzman once all the bladers had made it to the arena. An image appeared on the big TV screens. Six light blue people faced another six light blue people. There was a light blue beydish in between them and when a light blue referee brought his hand down each blader launched their blade so that there were twelve battling in the one dish. The TV was switched off.

"Cool." Mumbled Tyson in awe.

"As you can see, a Battle Royal is a match fought between the entirety of two teams. Yes, every blader on your team will blade, if there is eight people on that team they will all blade, if there are four people on that team they will all blade, if the team of eight goes up against the team of four they _will all_ blade. This is where having more bladers is an advantage, as you can see. But it does not guarantee a win. This new Tournament tests six areas, as was explained by Mr. Dickinson before the opening ceremony. They are: Strength, Agility, Knowledge, Lateral thinking, Strategy and Teamwork. Battle Royals test all of these areas. How? That's for you to work out. Do, and you'll have no trouble winning.

"Now please step up to the beydish."

The lid of the dish began disappearing into the walls beside it exposing the thing underneath. It was massive. As big, or bigger than a standard room.

It was set up with a simple rocky terrain, boulders scattered here and there to increase the level of difficulty for the experienced bladers, while not giving them too much of a hard time on their first Battle Royal.

"Now, BladeBreakers on this side," Jazzman indicated the side furthest from them, "And Elites on this side please."

The teams moved accordingly.

"Bladers Ready?"

"What are we going to do?" Hissed Tyson at Kai, "We've had no time to prepare for this."

"Then 3"

"Just blade. Think of it as a tag team match with three or four teams in at once."

"…2…"

"Ray and Max, Kaoru and Hilary, Tyson and I."

The others nodded.

"…1…"

"We'll play a classic three point strategy. Ray left, Hils right, Tyson up the middle with me."

LET IT RIP!"

The beyblades were launched. Tyson and Kai's quickly grouped together and headed off through the middle of the dish, Kaoru and Hilary's headed to the right and Max and Ray's headed left.

"Look at this Brad, the BladeBreakers have already got a strategy going!"

"And with less than a minute to prepare! That's impressive AJ!"

"Certainly is Brad. But what's up with the Elites, they seem to be everywhere!"

Kaoru smirked hearing this. It was true. The Elites beyblades were spread out, ready for the picking. Aaron was desperately trying to get his team into some sort of order, grouping them in a straight line to charge from what Kaoru could hear, but they had already been separated by the three point position Kai had put them in.

Hilary and Kaoru's beyblades were now very near the other side of the large beydish. Moving to stand beside the other girl, Hilary whispered, "How're we going to do this?"

Kaoru thought about it. "Well your blade's better at defence than mine, so why don't you go on ahead, be my guard and get them ready to be attacked and then duck around and I'll come up behind you to attack when they're confused. Mine's the stronger I think."

Hilary nodded, "Yeah, it is. Let's go."

With that her blade put on a burst of speed heading straight for a confused looking olive green blade. Kaoru noticed Pat watching the blade carefully whilst looking around at his team and surmised it was his. Sure enough, just as he got a look at the unfamiliar pink blade heading towards him, the olive green blade began to charge towards it, doing as Kaoru had said and preparing for the attack.

Hilary's blade closed in on his, and Pat's blade braced itself. Just as the pink and olive green blades were about to collide Hilary pulled away leaving Pat to call out for his blade to stop and looking after Hilary's blade confusedly.

"AURA!" Cried Kaoru attracting Pats attention just at the last moment. The purple blade hit his unprepared green one head on and easily ejected it from the dish.

"What the- HEY! That's not fair!" Kaoru smirked at the enraged boy and blew him a small kiss before concentrating on re-grouping with Hilary.

"And Patrick's Blade, Everon, is now out thanks to a strategic play by Kaoru and Hilary."

"What are Kai and Tyson doing Brad? I've never seen this formation before."

Tyson and Kai had split off a group of about four blades. A red one, a red and white one, a blue and green one and a pink one. The beybladers seeming to concentrate on this area were Ebony, Aaron, Lachlan and Sophie. Kai and Tyson had herded the blades into the centre of the huge dish and now chased them in a confusing formation.

Kai would be in front of Tyson's blade and then Tyson would put on speed and cut in front of Kai. Dragoon would attack one of the blades, and then losing speed, would drop back and Kai would pull in front to repeat the process. The were obviously trying to confuse the other team and judging by the way Aaron was getting worked up and demanding they tell him what they were playing at, it was working.

But the long term effects were minimal. Although it was confusing them and slowly wearing them down, both Tyson and Kai knew that it was taking its toll on their blades as well. Their best bet would be to bring out the big guns and get this over with fast so they could offer assistance to their other team mates.

A brief glance was shared between the two BladeBreakers and a nod.

"DRANZER!" Called Kai, turning back to the dish.

"DRAGOON!"

The two bit beasts appeared, along with two more.

"ALLIANTIS!" Commanded Ebony and a fox bitbeast rose up out of the red blade. It was red with black tips on its ears and tail, purple armour and a toothy grin.

"GALLODION!" Exclaimed Lachlan and an eagle bit rose from the blue and green blade beside it. It was grey with bright green patterns in its wings and a bright green beak and eyes.

"Looks like the action's just about to start!"

"Sure does, Brad."

"DRAGOON! ATTACK! PHANTOM HURRICANE!" The great dragon charged forward at the fox and eagle, winds roaring around it. Dranzer remained behind long enough for Lachlan and Ebony to launch their own attacks and long enough for Kai to wonder where Aaron and Sophie's blades had gone.

"Kai!" The boy was brought back to reality by his team-mate. He commanded his bit to charge forward and it obeyed, launching itself into the midst of the hurricane. There was a gasp from the Audience and Kai caught the tail end of:

"-has just been ejected from the dish!"

But there was no time to think on any of that, this move had to be executed with pristine timing, when Dranzer had just reached the top of the hurricane. Just as Kai reminded himself of this he caught a glimmer of blue nearing the peek of the storm.

"DRANZER!" He called, "BLAZING GIGS INFERNO!" The bit beast emerged from its blade again with a roar and, pointing itself downwards, let fire gush from its beak.

Suddenly, like a wick catching alight, the hurricane burst into flames. It was a spectacular sight, a roaring vortex of fire, sparks of light flying from its speed.

Kai was briefly aware that an ice or hail attack had hit the hurricane but it dissipated so fast that he paid it no further thought.

"KAI!" cried Tyson, pointing to the walls of fire that had just arisen either side of the hurricane and were rapidly closing in. He realised that this must have been the second attack just as the walls closed their entire distance.

They hit the hurricane with a sickening crunch. The attack faltered briefly, but the bitbeasts inside it were fighting.

Kai broke from his stupor. "Hang in there Dranzer! Push it back!"

"Dragoon! You too!"

Kai smirked as the joint strength of his and Tyson's blades prevailed and the attack was pushed back.

"Now Dranzer! Knock them out!"

"Dragoon! Attack!"

Both bit beasts obeyed and Lachlan's blade was catapulted from the dish. Ebony's remained but it had slowed considerably and quickly came to a stop.

"Tyson." Commanded Kai, earning the boy's attention, "Go and see if you can help out the others or do some solo work. I want to scope out our competition."

"Right!" Tyson nodded and turned around to do as he had been told.

"But Tyson," Began Kai again and the boy turned back, "Be careful. Some of the Elites will be paired up too and looking for a solo blader to take out."

"Right. You too captain." And with that, Dragoon returned to its blade and left.

Kai took a quick look at Dranzer, the blade was spinning slightly slower but all in all it had retained little damage from such a massive attack. Looking around the dish Kai realised two things. One: Aaron and Sophie's blades had joined with Tai's black one and Makan's gold on in the centre and were ganging up on Max; and Two: the blade that had been ejected from the dish was Rays.

Looking behind him he saw Ray, smiling sheepishly. Kai nodded to let him know it was all right.

He returned his attention to the ring just in time to hear: "Abigail's blade has been defeated!" He smirked. Unless he had miscalculated, his team held a firm advantage.

With the intent of helping out Max, Kai silently commanded his blade to head towards the centre of the dish. It did so. For a moment everything seemed to be going perfectly, Hilary, Kaoru and Tyson's blades had headed in to help Max too and it was clear, now surveying the dish, just how diminished the enemies forces had become. Then disaster struck.

From out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw a flash of red and before he had a chance to react it hit him head on and full force. Such an unexpected attack sent Kai reeling. His blade toppled sideways with an awful grating sound and his body, now on full alert, searched hastily for the attacker. Across from him stood Aaron, dark eyes fixed smugly on the red blade that had attacked Dranzer.

"Cheap shot." Hissed Kai. Anger boiled inside him and he longed to take it out on the other captain but his blade was battered and barely spinning as it was.

Aaron only smirked. "Let's put him out of his misery Umaraa." His blade charged forward.

Kai relaxed and waited patiently, aware that there was nothing he could do now.

"What's the old saying?! ONE CHEAP SHOT DESERVES ANOTHER!?" Dragoon crashed into Umaraa.

"IDIOT!" Seethed Aaron and his now slowed and battered blade turned its attention to Tyson. "UMARAA!" A great purple and black dog rose form his blade, armour and chains adorning it's being. "Attack!"

"DRAGOON!" The dragon emerged and with one swift blow catapulted Aaron's already tired blade from the dish. Turning his attention to his captain, Tyson smirked and shook his head in mock disappointment, "I told ya to watch out didn't I? Some of the Elites are just looking for Solo bladers to pick off."

Kai rolled his eyes. "I believe the term is: 'One good turn deserves another.' But nice try."

"And?"

"And thanks. But my Dranzer won't be any help now." He looked down at his blade with annoyance.

"Tyson!" Kaoru's blade pulled up next to the boys, "Go help the others!"

"Right!" His blade spun away to do just that.

Kai glared at her. "Don't waste your time!" He barked, "There's nothing you can do here! Why don't you stop being charitable and go back to the fight!"

"Why don't you stop assuming I'm a ditz who doesn't know what she's doing?!"

"What else am I supposed to assume? You're wasting you time here! It's useless!"

"Agh! What is with you? Whenever I want you to talk you won't! And when ever I need silence you just won't be quiet!"

Kai blinked. Had she just told him to shut up? "B-but…"

"Just shut up!"

His jaw dropped. She was telling him to shut up. No one told him to shut up! He couldn't even remember the last time he'd heard it directed at him. And yet…he felt compelled to comply. Odd.

"Give me a little credit and just this once assume I have some clue as to what I'm doing. Geez."

Then she proceeded to close her eyes. "Call out your Dranzer." She told him.

He opened his mouth to protest.

"Just do it!"

He rolled his eyes. "Not like it matters now anyway." His bit beast rose and as it did he noticed her blade glowing purpley-blue. His brows furrowed in confusion.

"Alright." She had whispered it so softly he wasn't sure he'd heard. "Get ready then." But she spoke again, in a voice he would have never thought possible for the loud girl. No. That wasn't true. Because he'd heard her sing. In the same gently, heavenly tone.

"AURA!"

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she called out her bitbeast.

"SHADOW BELL!"

The angel rose gracefully from the blade. It spiralled upwards, it's long, blond hair wrapping around it's body, it's red eyes closed and it arms held tight to its chest. She was glowing the same purple-blue light, flakes of it separating and falling to the ground. With her came the sound of bells, chirping and singing like a million happy birds.

When she had emerged completely (and in doing so attracted the attention of all of their team, opposing team, watching teams and stadium of spectators), she stopped spinning, opened her eyes, spread her arms, stretched her wings and looked heavenwards before dissolving and scattering the light she had created all around the dish.

When the sound of bells ceased Kaoru shot Kai a dirty look and left to help the others.

The boy raised an eye brow in confusion and looked down towards his blade. It was spinning as fast as when he had launched it and it was perfectly balanced. How? He looked after Kaoru who had returned to the centre of a now rather diminished fight. What sort of attack was that?

"Folks! We have just witnessed Kaoru's amazing Shadow Bell techniques that, according to this, heals the damage done to all bit beast in the immediate area including her own. It's a good ability to possess, but it has the unfortunate side affect of healing your opponents' beasts too. How she does it is a mystery, but, from the information she's given us, it has something to do with the connection between bit and master."

"That's what she's written about all her attacks AJ."

"Oh. So it is."

Without sparing it any further thought, Kai returned to the battle. Makan had knocked Tyson and Max from the dish and Hilary had defeated Sophie. Now only Kai, Kaoru, Hilary, Makan and Tai remained.

Minutes of battle passed without any development, Makan had almost been defeated by Kai at one stage but Tai had intervened, other than that there had been no obvious upper hand.

Just when Kaoru was getting fed up and about ready to let Aura come out and finish things, something happened. Kaoru had been aware that Tai and Makan had been talking to one another but she had paid it no mind, she had been talking to her team mates as well, but suddenly it escalated into an argument.

"OH! You'll be fine without my help will you?!"

"Tai-"

"WHY? BECAUSE I'M SMALL! You know that doesn't matter Maka!"

"I know but-"

"WELL I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP EITHER! I CAN WIN THIS WITHOUT YOU AND IF YOU DON'T STEP OUT RIGHT NOW I'LL MAKE YOU!"

"Tai, calm down, I merely meant to say that you could take a break, I'd handle it."

"WELL THEN TAKE A BREAK MAKAN!" A great angry pool of black began to sputter forth from her blade, "I'LL HANDLE IT! FEVELIN!" The black mass exploded and formed some sort of unrecognisable shape before charging at Makan and effortlessly throwing his blade out of the dish.

"Whoa."

"Surprised are you?" Tai turned on them, eyes dangerous. "What is it? Wow! The little kid can blade? You bet I can! FEVELIN! CLAW OF THE DARKENED!" A giant, shadowy, black claw rose from the creature and struck Kaoru's blade. It was thrown from the dish and missed her ear by such a small margin she heard the wiz of air around it. She gulped.

"DRANZER!"

"DRAYLIA!"

Kai commanded his bit beast to rise immediately. This kid was seriously powerful, dangerously powerful in fact! Perhaps more powerful than any adversary they had ever faced and they would need to use everything they had to have a hope of winning.

"FLAMING GIGS INFERNO!"

"FRIGID GAIL!"

Following Kai's lead Hilary commanded her blade to use its strongest attack, a wind attack so powerful, that spun so fast, it actually froze anything in its path.

"FEVELIN! NIGHT WING!" A Pair of dark wings grew out of the creatures back, spread and flapped, lifting it easily off the ground and launching dark lashes of pure energy. It dispelled both their attacks effortlessly and with a finally flap of it's wings, threw Dranzer out of the dish.

Turning to a terrified Hilary, Tai raised her hand to command another attack. "Fevelin." She commanded but her voice lacked the same passionate anger that had seen three blades defeated. Instead she sounded more exhausted than anything else. "Attack. Finishing move…Nothingness Void." Her eyelids drooped and she swayed on her feet as a great expanse of black opened up beneath Draylia.

Just as it had begun to swallow up the pink blade, it disappeared. Tai fell to her knees and her blade slowed. "Fevelin." She called weakly. "Please don't do this now."

Hilary's eyes widened as she realised what was happening. The blade was sucking her energy, and now that it had all dried up it was coming to a halt.

"Hilary! Attack!" Commanded Kai from the sidelines.

Tai reached out to her blade, pleading with it to keep going, tears in her eyes.

"HILARY!"

"Draylia," whispered Hilary, not taking her eyes off the desperate girl, "strike…typhoon."

Without hesitation the storm whipped up around the dragon obscuring Hilary's view of Tai. She closed her eyes sadly, hearing a metal clank as Tai's blade hit the floor out side the dish.

"The BladeBreakers win."

Hilary dropped to her knees. "I'm so sorry." She whispered and looked up to find the little girl still reaching out to where her blade had been. Perfect forest green eyes met her own ruby ones for a moment and then the girl collapsed. Exhausted.

* * *

Kai stood out on the balcony of the hotel room admiring the blue cloudless sky. There was a light wing lifting and playing with his hair. He allowed himself a tiny quirk of the lips. 

It was lunch time, so Tyson, Ray and Max were seated around the kitchen counter eating contentedly. Kaoru and Hilary had gone for a walk sometime ago and bought lunch out, so they weren't hungry. As for he himself, Kai had been offered lunch by the others, but politely declined. He wasn't being antisocial, he just didn't feel like eating.

Kai sighed quietly and leant his elbow on the railing, allowing his jaw to rest on the heal of his palm. The tiny quirk of his lips evolving into a small, contented smile. Unbidden, his mind pulled him to thoughts of his newest team mate.

He shook his head a little. _Enough._ He had been thinking about her nearly as much…or possibly more, than beyblading lately. And that simply wasn't like him. _Enough._

And yet his mind chose to ignore his decision in favour of the interesting topic the girl provided. _She's just so frustrating. She's not worth the time I waste thinking about her. Not worth it at all._ The smile dissolved into a frown.

When had it happened? When had this space grown between them?

She had been doing so well in being close to him. So well he had nearly wanted to be her…friend. It was terrifying how easily she had reached him. How easily she had torn down his shields, his masks, his frigid, hateful, glares. She'd smile and they'd disappear in an instant.

He had trusted her so easily. Let her in without thinking about it or realising it.

Somehow…

It had just felt so comfortable being near her.

And now…

When had it happened? It was the day after the tournament began that her smiles had disappeared from his presence. She had been colder around him. Spoken to him in reserved and clipped tones. And then, after the battle royal, she had ignored him completely. Why?

The lack of communication between the two was not something that had gone un-noticed to the others, though they chose not to comment on it.

Kai wasn't sure what had happened or what was wrong and his willingness to remain the uncaring, uninterested captain kept him from asking. Still…he wondered. He wanted to know. Was it his fault? Should he be apologising? Was his crime so unforgivable?

He wanted to say…he was sorry. If only he knew what he was sorry for.

He shook his head again. A tad more violently this time, just for good measure.

_Enough. Girls will be girls. Venus and Mars and all that. Hopefully…it'll just get better on it's own._

Kaoru wasn't the only change in their team dynamics since the battle royal. It had affected all of them. To know that there were competitors that strong…it had everyone worried. What if there were bladers out there even stronger than Tai?

And then there was Hilary.

The day after the battle she had been depressed. Although the result of the Elites defeat hadn't been her fault, she insisted on blaming herself. She had spent the day in her bedroom presumably crying, though no one had actually checked. The girl was to be left alone with her thoughts, had been Kaoru's strict orders.

As a result of Hilary's conditions, two other changes had transpired. Tyson had agreed to tone it down and be sensible and quiet until Hilary was better, and Max had promised to lay off the sugar so that the prospect of a loud and disturbing sugar high wasn't to be worried about.

However, the very next day, Tai had been released from the hospital and had come to the hotel to personally apologise to the BladeBreakers. She explained that she would sometimes lose control of her temper and her blade, which contained a bit beast of darkness, would feed off the negative energy and deplete her strength. She and Hilary had had the chance to chat and resolve the guilt the girl had felt after their battle.

The sombre air had lifted and the BladeBreakers had returned to their normal hustle and bustle. Or…almost had.

Although Kaoru had brightened some, she still persisted in ignoring Kai. She refused to spare him even a single glance.

He felt anger bubble inside him, and the immense desire to let out a frustrated growl.

Then he heard Kaoru giggle. The storm inside him came to an immediate stop.

How did she do that?

"Please Hils? Tell me! C'mon!?"

"No!" Exclaimed the girl indignantly, "It's too embarrassing Ru!"

"No it's not! Tell me, tell me!"

Kai snuck a peek behind his shoulder to find the topic of his inner turmoil and the other girl sitting on the carpet of the would-be lounge (although Kai was adamant that is should be called a cinema with a screen that big). Hilary was blushing and Kaoru was grinning. The boys sat at the Kitchen Counter still, all the way down the other side of the massive room. They were not so discreetly listening as well.

"Well…I…I guess. It's just really silly and girly is all." Kaoru waited for her to continue. "Oh fine. It'll be big…but not huge. All of my close friends and all of _his._ Unless _he_ wants it small."

She paused and her blush grew, looking away, embarrassed, she continued. "It'll be in spring and outside. There will be roses all around and the cherry blossoms will all be in full bloom…there will be a light breeze, strong enough to carry the cherry blossom petals but not enough to mess up my hair which will be - no! I can't tell you that! It has to be a surprise!"

"What?" Kaoru grinned, "You think you'll be marrying one of them?" She pointed crudely to the boys at the counter who blushed profusely and tried to make themselves look occupied and uninterested.

"N-no! That's not it…"

Kai smirked and rolled his eyes. They were talking about marriage. How girly indeed!

"I just…I want to invite you to my wedding so…it has to be a surprise. Okay?"

Kaoru smiled, "Okay. But I'm holding you to that, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Hilary laughed. "So? What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What will your wedding be like dumb-ass."

From the corner of his eye, Kai caught a little movement. It was Tyson. When Hilary had asked that question he had turned away from the others, and frowned.

"Not getting married."

Kai's head snapped back. _Seriously?_

"Seriously?" Hilary looked amazed.

She shrugged carelessly. "Yeah. I guess."

_That's right,_ remembered Hilary, _that night when she was talking to Aura, all that time ago at the training fields, she did say something about not falling in love._

* * *

-Flashback- 

"What did I tell him?"

"That you couldn't fall in love."

"I told him I didn't _want_ to fall in love." Kaoru's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Besides, what's so bad about that? I've told Tyson. And I would've told Hilary and Max and Ray too but it just hasn't come up."

"You said 'Cause if that happened…'. You weren't…" She paused, and something akin to fear shone in her eyes, "You weren't actually planning on telling him, were you Kaoru?"

"No. Of course not…"

"And what about telling him it wasn't your choice? Hmm?"

"I didn't say that." She defended herself. "Besides, he's not going to figure it out Aura. Chill."

"But what if he does?"

"He won't." Kaoru mumbled surely.

-End Flashback-

* * *

But…but it didn't make sense. 

Kai turned away and looked up to the sky again, confused.

* * *

-Flashback- 

"Aura was saying that it was best that I didn't make too many more friends because then I have less chance of falling in love. Cause if that happened…well, she's just looking out for my best interests. She knows I don't want to fall in love, so if I don't even get the chance then it makes the whole thing easier!"

- - - - -

"But, it makes you sad, doesn't it? Knowing that you'll never feel love like that, whether it's your choice or not. It's a sad thing."

- - - - -

"Still not sleeping?"

Kaoru jumped. "Oh God, Kai!" she exclaimed whipping around to face him, "You scared me!"

He smirked. "It's what I do." She laughed.

"Well I'm glad you're up!" He raised an eyebrow. "Now you can make me some breakfast! I'm _starving_!"

- - - - -

_Her smile. So childlike and beautiful. Full of compassion and love and yet…_

- - - - -

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

- - - - -

_She had been laughing then. Laughing and smiling. Why? Why was it like this?! Why was it so sad to think…that she would never love? That she would never marry. It…it made him…almost want to cry._

_- - - - -_

Gentle laughter met his ears. Kai broke free from his thoughts and looked at Kaoru. A hand sporting two bracelets covered her laughing mouth and the bracelets jangled happily as her body shook with humour.

"You should see your face Kai!" she laughed. "You'd think I had an electric buzzer on my hand or something!"

_- - - - -_

_It wasn't fair._

-End Flashback-

* * *

"You don't want to get married?" Hilary breathed disbelievingly. 

Kaoru smiled. "No. I…uh…don't want to fall in love actually."

"Why…Why not!?" Hilary seemed angry.

"I-uh…"

"It's no use Hils." The attention of the room suddenly turned to Tyson as, with his back facing the pair, he told them casually, "Kaoru's not gonna tell you. You can trust me on that."

The girl looked away, seemingly ashamed. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Hilary stood up indignantly. "Why don't you want to fall in love? That's horrible! And you of all people Kaoru! How many are there out there that would love you? Tell me!"

The girl chuckled bitterly, sadly. Her eyes hardened as she too stood up and took a hold of her upper arm. "One that I know of."

"One that…one that you know of? Some one out there really loves you Kaoru? Really _love _loves you?"

"Yes."

"Then…why?" Hilary gasped.

"Because…"

"Why?!"

"Because I can't!" Kaoru exclaimed, throwing an arm out in anger, "You couldn't possible understand! No one would!"

_I might. _Thought Kai idly.

"How do you know?!" Exclaimed Hilary, just as angry.

"How do you know you wouldn't hate me?!" The room went immediately silent. Not one of them even bothered to pretend they were interested in other things. "You'd hate me." Admitted Kaoru, more quietly this time. "You think you won't. You'll say you won't. But you will."

"Kaoru…but you'll never get married. You'll…you'll never have a child."

Kaoru's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Hilary." Warned Kai, suddenly turning around and entering the exchange. He knew that look.

--_"It's your fault! It all your fault! You're the reason they're dead! If it weren't for you…if it weren't for you…"_

"_Rei. That's enough. Kai understands."--_

"You'll never have a baby! Never hug it! Or hold it in your arms! Or feel its heart beating with yours." Kaoru let out a strange sound.

--_All…my fault. Mum. Dad.-- (5)_

"Hilary I mean it!"

It was the same look. That same sudden, terrified, realisation.

The girl turned on him. "If she wants to live deprived of love then she should already know this!"

"Regardless! Can't you see you're disturbing her!"

--_"If it weren't for you they'd still be alive! Give him back! My big brother…give him back to me!"--_

The girls' eyes widened and she turned back to her friend. "Ru?"

A look of horror graced the girls' features.

"Kaoru." Tried Kai again.

The look of horror slowly transformed into one of anguish as tears welled up from with in her. She clasped her hands together over her chest, and lowered her head. Her eyes slipped closed.

--_"I'm sorry! I didn't want them to die! I didn't mean it!"--_

"No. It isn't easy to know you will never hold his hand, smile at him, laugh with him. But it's all I've ever known…so it's okay."

She smiled a little

"I can't even imagine what it must be like to feel it. To know it so completely…It's simple, in a completely unbelievably complex, confusing way. I can't. I won't. I will…never…"

She sobbed and turned and ran.

"Kaoru!"

--_"Mum! Dad! I'm sorry!"--_

"I have to go."

She stepped out the door and turned to leave. It was only by chance that Kai saw the tiny pearl of a tear slipping down her cheek. And that he heard those tiny whispered words.

"I will never fall in love…and it breaks my heart."

--_Forgive me.--_

* * *

-cough- 

Forgive me?

I'm rather fond of the cliff-hangers you see. It's…a deadly addiction.

Anyho! Authors notes coming right up!

(1) - Kimono/Yukata - Kimono you should know. It's that Japanese dress thing with the wide sleaves, V-neck and big waste band. Yukata is basically the male version…although it's slightly less formal.

(2) Hajari/Yuriyu/Gonyami - Oh! Lookies! More weird names! Yuriyu and Gonyami are just names I made up. Hajari also means something, you can find it on _freedict (dot) com_. For pronunciation: Hajari (duh.): Hah-jah-ree. Yuriyu: Yoo-ree-yoo. Gonyami: Gun-yah-mee.

(3) - "You don't think they…_did _anything…do you?" - Hehehe…okay. Well you'll notice that this fic is rated T, that's what it will stay. There will be no lemons, no limes, I'm sorry if you're into that sort of thing…but no.

(4) - Hilary had hefted herself over to the fight, hit Tyson deftly on the head and taken hold of both Kai and Kaoru's ears dragging them over to "Time-out". - Ya. I'm aware that Hilary seems a little OOC in this fic but I guess I sort of meant for her to be. I mean think about it: After years of only being friends with guys Kaoru comes along and they really hit if off, Hilary learns a lot from her and, well, it only makes sense that her personality changes a little to boot! I want her to come off as more…confident I guess, and because Hilary sort of looks up to Kaoru a bit it makes sense that she would adopt some of Kaoru's traits…like the whole torturing Kai thing…I have fun -grins-

(5) Mum - Okay. In America I know they/you spell Mum, Mom. That's cool, and I respect it, I'm sure there are other countries who write it that way too but where I live we spell it Mum, so that's the way I'm doing it in my fic, I hope you guys don't mind too much. (Oh, and just for your peace of mind, I assure you it's pronounced exactly the same).

So. Unless you've been sleeping you will have noticed I've done a pretty much 180 (thus the title) with Kaoru and Kai's relationship (that is I've turned it right around). BUT NEVER FEAR! For next chapter I'll be doing another 180 to bring it a full 360…and then some!

Anyway. Look forward to next chap. It's about as long (or longer) than this one and it's one of my favs so far.

Until then!

Oh. And don't forget to review…OR SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS THE RICE! (thanks XEye-Of-The-WolfX, you crack me up -grins-)


	8. Circles Part II: 360

So ho. ¬.¬U It's, uh…been a while huh?

You know what, I guess the way to look at it is, at least I haven't completely abandoned this, and I know a few of you were thinking it -winks- Thing is, I'm seriously over Beyblade, but I'm trying! I really am trying because this is my first fic and I want to finish it, you know? Dunno if I will, but here's hoping. I'll do my best!

So, this is Circles part 2. Where Kaoru and Kai's relationship is brought a full 360 (as opposed to 180 last chap. Remember?) Excitement XD !!

Wows.

Anyho, I just wanted to do a really short, iddy biddy, little recap quickly. Just cause it's been soo long Bear with me please!

- - - - - - - -

Last chapter the BladeBreakers were introduced to the new tournament and the new teams. They had their first battle royal experience against the Elites, a group of seven skilled bladers and a little girl named Tai, owner of a powerful dark type blade that drains her energy. Hilary ends up defeating the weakened Tai.

Meanwhile, a combination of thoughtless comments, misplaced jokes, and angry words sees Kai and Kaoru's odd relationship fall to threads. Kai has just come to the stunning realisation that he enjoys spending time with her and misses doing so when Hilary accidentally brings up Kaoru's decision not to fall in love. Hilary tries to talk Kaoru out of it and in doing so inadvertently causes Kaoru to realise this choice would mean she wouldn't be able to have children.

Distraught and unsure, Kaoru flees the hotel room, leaving Kai with his own disturbed thoughts.

- - - - - - - -

So. I'm not gonna keep ya anymore my darling readers, scurry off and indulge in an extra long, extra fluffy chappie, courtesy of moi .

* * *

**Circles Part II: 360.**

Kaoru was sitting on a park bench, under a large leafy tree, when he found her. For ten long minutes he stood at a distance, out of line of her peripheral vision, not that she was paying much attention to her surroundings in the first place.

Her chin rested in her hands, eyes downcast. Her elbows, in turn, rested on her knees which were bent slightly inwards, her feet pigeon toed. She seemed to have calmed down, or at the very least to have stopped crying. Her back was no longer shaking and certainly no passers by seemed terribly concerned for her. Knowing this, he relaxed a little and allowed himself a few minutes more to sort through his own troubles.

It had been many years since those memories had played in his mind. Perhaps he had mentally suppressed them. But then again, it was just as likely that they had always been there and instead he had simply ignored them. That look on her face however; the shock and fear, the stunned realisation; that alone had been enough to breach the barrier, whatever it had been. Suddenly, and quite against his will, Kai had been reminded of that day.

It had been a week after his parents' deaths. He had been released from the hospital for a night to stay at his Aunt Rei's house.

Auntie Rei was his father's younger sister. They were the only two Shinsetu children and they had grown up relying mostly on each other, as their mother's work required her to travel a lot and their father's work demanded long hours. Ryu, being the elder of the two, had been the one to look after Rei. They had grown up together and had always been very close.

But Rei had never liked Kai's mother, not from the very first moment she met her.

Ryu and Rei had grown farther apart over the years that Ryu and Layna had been married and further still after Kai had been born. Though Kai had met his aunt on a number of occasions prior to the death of his parents, these meetings had been few and fleeting. She would come for a day, sometimes for a night, but never for longer than that and so Kai had never grown to know her very well.

On that day, a week after the worst day of his life, Kai had intended to stay the night at her house, a break from the ever white and sea green hospital. It had begun pleasantly enough, a tour of the house and dinner, but sometime after their meal and before his bath the subject of Kai's parents had come up. Things had progressed steadily downhill until Rei had broken out into tears, sobbing and insisting that Kai had been the reason for his parents' deaths.

At first he had refused to believe it, but her argument had been so compelling and the more he thought about it the more he became convinced that if it hadn't been for him, the whole thing could have been avoided. He had run, desperate to escape that knowledge.

Ultimately he had ended up at his best friend's house. Later that evening, after a bath and supper, Kai had confronted himself in the mirror and thought through everything that had happened. It became impossible to deny. And he had realised, clearer than day "It's all my fault."

Kai blinked and touched his lips, surprised that the words had come out. He shook his head slightly, trying to banish the memory of his grief stricken face from his mind. This became an easier task than expected when a movement out of the corner of his eye distracted him. He scarcely had time to wonder what it had been when another shiver rippled up Kaoru's spine.

'Stupid.' It was summer in Beijing, but today was surprisingly chilly. Not to mention the cool of night, which was creeping steadily closer. And the silly girl was wearing her _I love Beyblader (er's) _singlet and a skimpy pair of short shorts Hilary had insisted would make the boys blush beet red and provide the girls with a good laugh. It had, which was all very well and good in the warmth of indoor but now was probably something she was regretting.

He sighed, wondering (without any real conviction) why it was him who had to pick up the pieces, and then headed over to her.

She started a little as she felt the warm, soft fabric slip over her shoulders.

"Stupid." He told her out loud this time, then bent down to pick up the hanging ends of the scarf and drape them over her shoulders again. Granted, it probably wasn't doing a lot to alleviate the cold, but there wasn't much else he could offer her…apart from his pants…which was by all accounts a very bad idea. And, true enough, calling her stupid probably wasn't what this situation called for in the least but he couldn't really think of anything else to say. Even now he was at a loss. He just stood beside her, hand resting softly on her shoulder, waiting for her to do or say something.

She reached up for the scarf and held onto it gently. She looked up at him slowly and he barely suppressed a cringe. Her eyes looked so sad. "Your scarf." She whispered quietly, seemingly in slight awe.

"Yeah? What about it?" He asked, hoping that if he acted like he always did she'd take the hint and start acting like she normally did too. "You're the dumb-ass who came running off here in shorts and a singlet." Or maybe…it was because he just couldn't fathom asking 'Are you all right? What's wrong?' or saying 'Don't worry, it'll be okay.'

"Sorry." She whispered quietly and he bit his lip. Plan 1: failed.

"Come on," he told her, trying a different tactic, "Let's go back."

She didn't move or say anything. Kai sighed again and held out his hand to her, she looked at it and then up at him, before taking it gently and allowing him to pull her up.

"I don't want to go back." She murmured, eyes downcast. Kai understood her fear at once, and briefly wondered at himself for knowing her so well.

"No one's there." He told her gently, "They're out looking for you too."

Her eyes widened, tears pooling again. "Did…I make everyone worry?"

Kai cursed. What was he meant to say? If he said yes she'd get upset and if he said no…well he was pretty sure that would upset her too.

"Yeah." He said casually, "They were all pretty worried. So we should go back and call them don't you think?"

She seemed hesitant and bit her lip. Another shiver racked her body.

"Kaoru." He said quietly, causing her to break from her stupor, "I think…one day you'd make a really good mum."

She gaped at him, blue eyes wide and shining, and jaw hanging open ever so slightly. Tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to fall.

With the hand he still held, Kai pulled Kaoru to him. Body weak from crying and mind still preoccupied with his previous statement, the rest of Kaoru instinctively followed her arm and she collapsed against the older boy's chest.

"I mean it, so don't cry okay?"

With that, Kai let go of her hand and instead looped his arm around her waist. Her form was so slight, he thought without really intending to, one arm was more than enough to catch her.

For a second Kaoru was completely overwhelmed with the warmth of his body and the idea that those words had come out of his mouth. Her mind was still. And then, like a great wave, all of it hit her at once. Thought flooded back, as did emotion and fear and the still lingering cold.

She threw her arms out behind him and held tightly onto his shoulder blades, snuggled her nose deep into his chest and, despite his early request, sobbed hopelessly. "Kai." She whimpered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." He said quietly, again wondering at his new-found ability to decipher exactly what the girl meant.

"No." She sniffed, "I mean for everything. For ignoring you and being an ass hole and just…being…being idiot."

"I know. It's okay." He told her again. "I'm sorry too." Although he wasn't entirely sure what he was sorry for, it seemed like the right thing to do.

She shook her head against his chest and muttered something that he correctly interpreted as "Not you're fault."

"It was really stupid," she continued, "I just…" and then slowly trailed off. All too late Kai realised that her hand had at some point inadvertently slipped under his top. Kaoru's left hand moved up and down a few times, trying to confirm what exactly it was feeling before it hastily pulled away. Kaoru detached herself from him suddenly and looked up to face him. He refused to meet her gaze.

"Kai…"

"Let's go home. Then we can…talk."

She nodded numbly and followed him. Still trying to come up with some other explanation.

Why, where his back should be toned, smooth, warm skin, was there a knotted mass of silky, tightly pulled, bulging, desperately fashioned scar tissue?

* * *

With a jangle of keys Kai unlocked their hotel room and stepped inside. Kaoru followed him, still a bit dazed. He slipped his scarf off her and knotted it around his own neck.

"Go put on a jumper." He told her quietly and flipped on the kettle. She nodded and ducked into her bedroom, not bothering to close the door. "And some pants on too." He called and picked up the phone. He heard a sound of agreement and, satisfied, dialled Tyson's number.

Jumper and pants on, Kaoru sat on the edge of her bed and looked out the doorway at Kai who was currently waiting for her brother to answer his phone. Suddenly an extremely loud amount of babble exploded from the receiver. Kai made a look of annoyance and pain and removed the phone from his proximity. Thirty seconds later the wild babble dissolved into a series of gasping breaths.

Judging it safe, Kai tentatively raised the phone to his ear again and spoke fluently and calmly into it. "One more word Tyson and I promise I'll never pay for a single meal for you ever again. Nor will I pay for our groceries, or buy you Easter chocolate, or Christmas cake or celebrator dinners after a victory."

There was absolute silence. Kaoru giggled.

"Besides, you have no reason to be so loud anymore. I found her." Again silence followed his words. "You can talk," Kai told him reluctantly, "as long as you're quiet and try to make some sort of sense."

She heard a much quieter Tyson say something on the other end.

"She's fine." Kai assured him. "Except she just about froze her idiotic butt off." Another decidedly more worried stream of words interrupted him. "She's fine Tyson. I made her put on a jumper and pants and I turned the kettle on to make her a hot drink." Tyson said something loudly and Kai groaned. "Not hot chocolate. Come on...because it's girly!...Yes I have a problem with that!" Kaoru caught an angry 'But it's her favourite!' and Kai sighed, "Fine."

Kaoru smiled and he rolled his eyes at her. She giggled again.

"Wait!" Kai said suddenly, cutting off whatever Tyson had been saying. "Don't come back yet…no…no! Just listen for three and a half seconds would you! She really didn't want to come back at all, she needs some alone time." There was silence. "Tyson. I know you're worried about her but the best thing you can do I leave her alone right now okay? Call the others and tell them I've found her and meet them somewhere for dinner, my treat." She heard Tyson hesitate and mutter unsurely. "You can even go to the all-you-can-eat place if you really want." Kai added reluctantly and there was no more argument.

The boys exchanged farewells and Kai hung up. He turned to the kettle, which had since finished boiling and went about making hot chocolate. Kaoru watched him in silence, kind of in awe of how nice he was being to her.

A minute later he joined her, two mugs of steamy, frothy heaven in his hands, marshmallows and all. "I can't believe you actually made me hot chocolate," she grinned and took a sip, eyes widening in surprise as she did, "Mm! And it's really good! You're a really good cook Kai."

"Hn." He muttered and watched her greedily down a good gulp of the hot liquid before making a choking noise.

"Too hot! Owwie…" She fanned her tongue.

"Sometimes you're scarily like your brother." He told her and took a sip of his own drink. He heard her chuckle in agreement and set her mug down to cool. He followed suit making a mental note to put some cold water in next time. And then catching his mistake he reprimanded himself. _There will be no next time. _

He shook his head free from such trivial thoughts and sat down opposite to her, unsure of what to say or do next. Luckily (or perhaps not so luckily) for him, Kaoru made the first move.

"Thank you…for saying those things and…coming to get me." She mumbled embarrassedly, a light blush colouring her cheeks.

"You're welcome." He told her and she smiled briefly before turning and looking at him very seriously. He had a bad feeling about this.

"But Kai…your back. I…" She trailed off, not really sure what she should say, or if she should say anything at all.

Kai sighed. It was probably better that she knew truth rather than being left to make up silly ideas on her own.

Kai stood and unwound his scarf; he dropped it on her bed. "Uh…Kai-kun…" She blushed. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer, instead shrugging of his black over-shirt and throwing it with his scarf. She swallowed noticeably and pinched herself. "Kai Hiwatari is stripping in my room…" she whispered to herself, before turning absolutely cherry coloured and burying her head in the doona.

"I'm not stripping idiot." He blushed too, but none the less took a hold of the hem of his purple singlet and pulled it up over his head, deciding to throw it on her in hope that it would knock some sense into her. Instead she made an 'eep' noise.

"Kai Hiwatari's shirt." She whispered, clutching the fabric over her face where he had thrown it.

"And Kai Hiwatari, standing right in front of you, without shirt." He added. She 'eep'ed again and he rolled his eyes. "Do you reckon you could act a little less like fan girl Kaoru? It's a bit disconcerting."

The girl said nothing but sat up again, singlet still held to her face.

"Are you smelling my singlet?" He asked, actually beginning to get a little worried.

"No…" She said quietly, and peeked over the top of the crumpled piece of clothing, big and incredibly guilty looking eyes peering up at him.

"Uh-huh…" He raised an eyebrow as said guilty eyes accidentally travelled down his chest before making a hasty retreat back under his shirt. "Kaoru." He sighed angrily and pulled the clothing away from her. She was raspberry red.

"Why are you half naked?" She asked, voice very high and face going redder by the second. Her eyes were travelling up and down the smooth, rippled contours or his chest and abdomen, as if attempting to memorise it for fear it would henceforth disappear from her vision forever.

He sighed and clenched his fists. She would be the first girl to see them. The first person ever apart from his grandfather and Tala of course. And certainly the first person outside of Biovolt.

Did he really want to show her? Still time to pull out…

He licked his lips and then leaned gently against the bedroom door. A click confirmed it had closed and another click told Kaoru that Kai had locked it. He then walked over to her and sat down on the bed, being sure to keep his back facing away from her as he turned. She was still focused solely on his front, which helped a bit.

"You felt it didn't you." She looked up at him, confused. "When your hand accidentally slipped under my shirt…you felt it, didn't you. On my shoulders." Her breath caught as she suddenly understood and nodded slowly, as if a bit afraid her was going to yell at her. Instead he sighed again, as the part of him that had still been hoping he'd imagined it died and he averted his eyes, as if ashamed. But despite this, he resolutely drew his legs up onto the bed and crossed them before turning away so that his back faced her. He heard her quickly draw in a sharp shaky breath and then felt a warm hand reach out and touch his now quite cold back.

"I decided I'd just tell you the truth, rather than let you speculate too much. I don't want you to think this happened in a gang war or because I had abusive parents or because I fell of my bike when I was eight," he told her, trying to sound calmer than he felt. Apart from showers he never, _ever_ went topless.

"Oh my goodness," she whispered almost inaudibly, as her fingers traced the millions of scars etched into the skin of his back. They were everywhere. Never ending. Overlapping and running into each other, creating bigger and meaner looking ones.

She let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd caught and then tentatively touched the scar on his shoulders, the one she had felt earlier. It was long and wide, stretching from the top of his right shoulder blade to the bottom of his left one. It was knotted and disfigured and bulged upwards a little from the rest of his skin. Barely missing the knotted mass on his left shoulder blade was a little indentation, about the size and shape of a malteaser. She briefly ran her fingers over it, surprised at how deep it was. It must have nearly touched the bone!

Kaoru removed her hands from his back and for the first time noticed the little tattoo on his hip. Akin to a barcode it read: 001-01-03. Underneath it was a Russian word she didn't recognise. She brushed over it with her fingertips quickly, intrigued by the smoothness of it. It felt like just regular old skin.

"What does this mean?" She asked without thinking.

"Mm?" She'd caught him by surprise. "The Russian word? I can't really translate it properly; it'd be like…a promise of vengeance. No. More like an oath. Something that absolutely can't be broken. That you are bound to. Come to think of it, I should really get it removed…or at least changed into something else." He pondered out loud.

"Why?" She asked carefully, looking up to his face, or at least what she could see of it.

"Because," he told her, "I've had my vengeance. The promise has been fulfilled."

She nodded absentmindedly. "When did you get it?"

"Right after I escaped Biovolt." He answered quietly. "It was to be a reminder, day in and out, that I couldn't…wouldn't let my grandfather get away with what he'd done to me."

"Mm." Kaoru agreed quietly. She didn't know a lot about his past, only the little she had learnt from Tyson. It was pretty basic knowledge, she knew that he had lived most of his life in a place called Biovolt that raised beybladers and experimented on them. She knew that he'd been forced to use a bit beast called Dark Dranzer, which had driven him to the point of insanity, he'd betrayed the BladeBreakers and fought Tyson. She also knew that this was all due to the will of his own Grandfather, a man named Voltaire Hiwatari. (1)

Kaoru sniffed. The though of family doing something so awful made her want to cry. "Were these made at Biovolt?" She asked, and ran a hand over the little scars that covered him. She saw him nod. "From training?" She asked again, this time he laughed.

"From training." He echoed her, as if repeating the punch line of a joke. "No. They're not from training." He told her, a smile still in his voice. "They're from beatings. Punishment for breaking the rules."

She made a little strangled noise and then he felt something a lot softer than her hand brush against his back. Turning to look over his shoulder he saw it was her cheek, resting next to her hand on his desecrated flesh. Her eyes were sad and unfocused, half-lidded they stared into the distance before her as she tried to work it all out.

"Why would someone do something like this?" She asked suddenly. "What kind of rules did you break?"

Kai was silent for a second, pulling on old, half forgotten memories. Then he spoke. "Things like losing a beybattle, losing a race, losing control of your blade…losing a fight was also punishable…and killing someone." He felt Kaoru stiffen. "Don't worry," he assured her, "I may have been punished a lot, but it was never for that." She nodded against him. "Oh." He remembered suddenly, "You were also punished for complaining. Saying you were hungry or tired or thirsty, things like that. And asking for a second or larger helping at dinner and breakfast, we didn't get lunch…" He paused again, "Also expressions of pain. 'Ouch', or 'Ow', or a scream. Actually, any sort of emotional expression was prohibited. Smiling, laughing and crying."

Kai suddenly stopped talking completely and Kaoru looked up to see what the matter was. He was half looking over his shoulder so Kaoru could see the right side of his face clearly. His eyes were dull, as if looking at something very far away. He opened his mouth and began to speak again, but Kaoru wasn't sure if he knew he was doing it or not.

"I remember, when you'd disobeyed and been taken to be punished…the room was really small…and dark…there were windows but they were too high up to reach and too small to get through if you did. It hurt. It really hurt. Sometimes they'd whip you, or cut into you slowly with a razor, or slash at you with a knife…or they'd just throw punches at you 'till you passed out. I remember…how it felt to just sit there, or stand there and just take it…you couldn't scream, or cry or protest even in the least unless you wanted to guarantee yourself twice as much. It was such an awful feeling…of…utter helplessness, and hopelessness."

"Kai…" she whispered, unable to believe what she was hearing. Tears prickled at the backs of her eyes but before they could mature anymore Kai started talking again as if his previous words hadn't existed at all.

"There were also big things, like refusing a direct order, trying to escape or deliberately trying to sabotage Biovolt or my Grandfather." Kaoru could hear his tone change a little as he said this and looked up at him, curious. Indeed, his lips had quirked ever so slightly in the corners. "I got punished for things like that all the time." He said proudly, "Big things. I was always refusing to do what he told me, and always trying to escape, and always, always trying to stuff him up. I knew what it would eventually mean for me but I could never care. This one," he pointed to the big, knotted scar on his shoulders, smirk still in place, "was for successfully sabotaging one of his biggest schemes. Thanks to me he lost in excess of 2 billion dollars. He was so mad. He attended to me personally, using anything at his disposal. But I couldn't stop grinning, even if I'd wanted to which I didn't. He yelled at me until he was horse and didn't stop cutting until I passed out from loss of blood at which point he decided he'd better not kill his successor." Kai actually laughed, Kaoru was stunned. A hand curled up and over his shoulder, index finger running up and down the top bit of the scar absently. "I don't regret it. Not for even a second. It was well worth it." With a final little chuckle he resumed. "After that, I think the majority of them are for displays of emotion if you can believe it."

Kaoru didn't. Kai and 'displays of emotion' didn't really fit together somehow.

"I was brought up in a really good family," Kai continued, "I was always encouraged to smile and laugh by my mother, she said that life was nothing without happiness. I used to really try and find the good side in everything, in everyone. I really believed that no one was all bad and that every cloud had a silver lining and that good work was rewarded and bad behaviour was punished. When I went to Biovolt I insisted on seeing it as a learning experience. I forced myself to believe that grandfather was doing it for my own good. I laughed if I made a mistake, I smiled at the lady who gave me my food, and cried if I hurt myself and I was punished. Slowly, the happiness and faith in my childish self was extinguished. It's hard to believe in things in Biovolt, anything non-tangible that is. Principles, morals, gods. Pretty soon I learned to stop smiling and laughing and crying. I decided for myself, life without happiness may be nothing, but life without life was even less. And if I had kept getting punished as much as I was back then…I would have been long dead."

Kai suddenly let out a sort of half a chuckle. Kaoru looked up at him in surprise. She had sort of understood his humour at vanquishing his grandfathers plans but now…

"What's funny about that?" She hissed, almost angry with him. He shook his head and looked back at her.

"It's not funny." He said quietly, "It's depressing and pitiful. Why am I telling all this to you?" He looked so lost. So scared, with that strange strangled smile on his face.

"Kai-kun…" She whispered.

"Kaoru." He reached over his shoulder and took a strand of her hair, fiddling with it clumsily. "What do you think? Is it pitiful? Do you pity me?"

"N…no!"

He let her hair fall back into place and looked away from her slightly, eyes suddenly blank and uncaring.

"There was this one time, some older guy had challenged Tala to a battle. This guy was stronger than Tala in everyway, he was bigger, and more experienced too…Grandfather was there watching us that day. He asked Tala "Are you are coward? Do I need to beat some sense into you?" Tala was my best friend. We'd grown up together. He'd come to Biovolt for me, not because he had been forced, not because he had been taken but of his own free will, he came. For me. Tala lost that fight and was badly injured. He was in hospital for two weeks. I was forbidden to visit him." Kai trailed off a little and Kaoru was able to recognise an unfamiliar emotion in his eyes. "So you see? It really is pitiful. Not only did I endure such a fate, but I had forsaken my best friend to the same."

"I think," said Kaoru very carefully, "That you're being pitiful now." Kai's eyes widened suddenly and he looked at her, her eyes were dark and intimidating and stared up at him unflinchingly. "How pitiful. Drowning yourself in regrets and fussing over something you can't change. Don't you think that Tala would have felt pretty pitiful if he hadn't gone with you? Wouldn't he have thought, 'aren't I a pitiful person to have left my best friend alone?'" Kaoru sighed and looked away from him, again resting her cheek on his back. "I have never thought of you as pitiful Kai. Not before, and not now."

She glanced up briefly and saw the same un-identifiable emotion in his crimson eyes though this time she was able to recognise it as shame.

They stayed silent for some time.

Bored, Kaoru began to fiddle. She started running her fingers up and down the bumps of his spine but then noticed the little indentation above his largest scar and, for the second time, let her fingers brush gently over it. His muscles tensed ever so slightly. Intrigued, she repeated her actions and the same happened. Experimentally, she twirled a finger round the edge of the little scar and then, amused as his muscles tensed again, inside it. He remained silent so Kaoru assumed she was not doing him a great deal of harm.

For a full minute Kaoru continued her fiddling, entertained by the way Kai's shoulders tensed if she pushed a bit too hard, where as his stomach tightened when she let her fingers brush a bit to gently, before Kai finally interrupted her fun, "Quit it. That's sensitive."

"Oh?" Kaoru replied cheekily, happy that he seemed to be more himself now, "Is it ticklish?

He grunted. "No." And she laughed when a carefully tickle and twirl of the finger made him catch his breath.

"You're ticklish." She all but sang at him.

"No." He replied darkly, "I'm not."

She repeated her previous actions and this time Kai coughed to mask whatever other noise would have come out.

"Say it." Threatened Kaoru, "Or I'll just prove it myself." And without any warning her arms slipped under his and caught him. With a smirk Kaoru spiralled her finger lightly outwards from his belly button, allowing it to gently graze the smooth skin of his abdomen. "After all, I bet that scar isn't the only place you're ticklish right Kai-kun?"

"I'm ticklish." He ground out menacingly, or as menacingly as such a confession could be. "So stop already. And if you tell the others, I'll give you quadruple training for a month."

Kaoru giggled but withdrew. Then, once more brushing her fingers over the smallest scar said, "It's a bullet wound."

Kai nodded slowly. "Yes."

For a minute the girl said nothing, then Kai felt her lean her cheek against his back again. "How did you get it?" She questioned and he swallowed, frustrated when no words made themselves known to him.

"I was shot." He said quietly.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow against his skin. "I figured. How? Why? When?"

Kai was quiet.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want. It's okay." He felt a little smile curving across her lips.

He took a breath. That was true. He didn't have to tell her. But then why…did he feel so compelled to? Was it because it had been such a relief to talk about the rest? Because she had done nothing but nod and smile and ask more questions? Because she had never looked disgusted or afraid? Because she had only been happy to know more about him and he knew she would never tell a soul what he was divulging to her.

"It didn't hurt much." He whispered slowly. "It happened fast and then I was knocked out. When I woke up I was on a lot of morphine. I don't remember it very well. I don't know who shot me. But it wasn't an accident."

Unbidden, a memory flashed through his mind.

It was blurred and distorted. Fashioned into shapes and colours and sounds and feelings that sometimes fitted into a whole and others that made no sense what so ever.

What Kai could remember with clarity was her face; eyes still happy and perfect, mouth still smiling. And the knowledge that had hit him head on, so fast and hard and with such precision it almost bowled him right over. And then there was a big sound and he remembered tasting metal, and thinking with relief as his body relaxed, _at least I don't have to worry about this now._

Other than this, it was only nonsensical forms of half forgotten memory.

Kai shut his eyes tightly for a moment and then opened them as the thing fled from his mind.

"Someone tried to kill you?" Kaoru asked quietly.

"No. Not to kill me I don't think. Just to stop me for a while…that is…" He trailed off, not sure how do describe the things that had taken place at the time of this injury.

"Did it happen at Biovolt?" Kaoru whispered when it became apparent Kai was not saying anything more.

"Biovolt?" Asked Kai dazedly, as if waking up, "No, not there. At home. It was when…my parents were killed."

Kaoru gasped a little bit and he felt her pull away from him but didn't look back.

"My grandfather has always wanted someone to take over Biovolt when he dies. At first the heir was to be my uncle, his son, Voltaire Jn. Volt was what mum called him when she talked about him. Apparently he looked just like me, except with black hair instead of dark blue. He was a good guy, you know? Always laughing and stuff. Happy."

"Was?"

"Mm. To be able to take over the organisation grandfather put him through a very harsh training course. In the end it killed him." Kaoru bit her lip. "Mum said that my grandfather didn't even cry, he was just angry at his son's weakness. Then he had to find a new heir and turned to the second oldest. Her. He put mum through the same course that had killed his son. She became quiet and withdrawn, she began to hate and believed people who were happy were beneath her. Then she met my father, and he pulled her out of the darkness she had fallen into. When dad asked mum to marry him she told my grandfather 'fuck you' and left. Their youngest sibling had long since run away from home and my grandfather had no way of finding her so he had no heir."

For a moment Kai was quiet. Kaoru, now in immense shock, not just of the past he had known, but that he was telling her about it, was all but holding her breath.

"Then, some six years later, my grandfather learnt of a new possibility. A child, mothered by his eldest daughter. Me. And that was why, very quietly and with great care so as not to be caught, he had a man kill my parents. Being as he was my close blood relative, and a very wealthy man, he had no trouble adopting me. And I became his new heir."

Tears pooled generously in Kaoru's eyes, and slipped down her cheeks.

"Kai." She whimpered.

The boy remained quiet.

Carefully, she got up on her knees and crawled around to the front of him so that she could see his face. His eyes were unfocused and far away but not too terribly sad.

"Kai?" She whispered again and gently rested a hand on his cheek, moving his head so that he faced her. In a moment his eyes had focused on her, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Kaoru." Her murmured, as if saying her name for the first time, "I…I really miss them, you know?"

She gave him a wobbly nod, as more tears spilled over, and then shifted her position slightly so that she could lean her head on his shoulder and slip her arms around his waist and cry on him. For the second time that day.

For many minutes neither moved or spoke and then, unsurely, Kai laid a hand on her back.

"It's okay." He told her and felt her shake her head. "It happened a long time ago. It's okay."

She shook her head again and then slipped slowly to his lap where she retracted her arms and sobbed on them instead.

"It's not okay!" She exclaimed but it was muffled by his thighs and her tears, "When I lost my mum it felt like I would die. I didn't want to go on. I didn't see how I could go on. I felt like I was all alone, like I had nothing left to live for. I cried. All the time. And still cry. I was terrified of losing anyone ever again. Once Tyson caught the flu, and I slept next to him, crying and holding onto him the whole night thinking that he might be gone by the morning. I couldn't stand the loneliness." She trailed off a little, "I can't even begin to imagine how you must have felt. How lonely you must have been then…all by yourself. I wish…I could have been there with you. I'm…I'm sorry." Her words were blurred again by sobs and after her abrupt apology Kai understood nothing. Suddenly he caught a quick snippet of words. Something that was said louder, and a lot more passionately than the rest. "Please, let me be with you next time you're lonely. Please be with _me_ next time _I'm_ lonely." Of course this was all mumbled into his knees, as her hands clenched the fabric of his trousers, and he couldn't be sure he heard it right. But…

"Alright." He promised, the words leaving his mouth before they'd even made it to his head, and somehow, he couldn't bring himself to regret them.

After this Kaoru didn't speak again, and presently stopped crying as well, just snuffling and select intervals. Kai laid a hand on her head gently. Under any normal circumstance he would have sworn that this wasn't to console her but merely because the position was comfortable. At that moment however, the thought to do so didn't even cross his mind.

Kai had never experienced something like this; someone crying for him. He and Tala had cried together the night he was supposed to spend at Auntie Reis'. But that had been different because Kai had been crying too and Tala had also been crying for himself as he was losing a best friend and two adults he had been very close to.

And Kaoru was also mourning his time at Biovolt, something Kai had never been able to do.

Some time after, the snuffling stopped and Kai came to realise she had fallen asleep. Absently, he stroked her hair.

"Thank you."

Again, the words had left his mouth unbidden, but he couldn't…wouldn't regret them.

* * *

Renna stood on the balcony. There was a light breeze this morning that was gently blowing her hair from side to side. The balcony door was open so that she would hear if someone called out for her. Whether or not she would answer was another story. Renna enjoyed these quiet escapes, watching the marbled patterns of the clouds shift and change, searching for and finding the ghostly imprint of the moon on the blue sky above, and wondering what lay beyond.

Should someone call for her now, it was more than likely she would just ignore them.

"Renna!" But not if the caller was Lee. She looked up to find him running towards her, a cattish smile on his face.

"Mm? What is it?"

"The team and I are going out to do some sight seeing! There's a Temple not too far away with a really amazing history, and a big Sunday market on. Then we might go and check out the stadium for the quarter and semi finals, it's meant to be really spectacular. Whadda ya think? Coming?"

"Uh…" She glanced behind him. The others were standing at the door all ready to go, laughing, smiling, and talking about the day ahead of them. She knew the truth. They didn't want her there. The never had.

Of all of the white tigers, she was only close to Mirra and Lee. And she had her own doubts as to whether Lee really liked her, or if he was just trying to come off as a good captain and so she trusted him.

"Um…no. Sorry. I'm not feeling too well today."

"Oh." He seemed disappointed. "Well…maybe have a lie down…or a shower. Look after yourself Renna. We'll…um…try not to be too late, okay?"

"Oh no. It's fine. Don't worry about me."

He smiled. "Okay. We'll be going then." He waved to the others, who opened the door and made their way out. Mirra gave Renna a big encouraging smile, and then left too. Once they were all gone Lee turned to Renna again. "I mean it Renna. Look after yourself. I really worry about you, you know?"

She nodded. "I know. I'll be okay."

"I know you will!" He grinned at her. "We'll see ya when we see ya. Look after the place Renna, I'm trusting you!" He joked, before closing the door behind him.

Her smile faded. _You're trusting me? Please. You don't trust me even half as far as you can throw me. None of you do._

She returned to her cloud watching. _The truth is, I wouldn't even be on this team if I weren't such a damn good blader. If I hadn't beaten Lee. If he hadn't been so insistent on snapping me up._

_The others don't want me here. When I showed up at their village and beat their captain, they all wanted to see the back of me. I can't blame them. I wouldn't like me either. I'm not a very likable person._

_Lee and Mirra. The two of them stuck up for me. They insisted to the others that it was worth putting me on the team and after a while, Mariah agreed. She said it would be nice to have another girl on the team. And then Garry decided that everyone deserved a chance, and that I would probably warm up a little after getting to know everyone better. Kevin said no. But he was out voted. He hated me back then, and hates me still._

_When they told me I was invited to be on their team, I declined them. I didn't like being on a team. I didn't like the idea of a _team_ at all. You have to depend on people. And they have to depend on you. I'm not a dependable person. And for all of my life people have been letting me down. 'Why should this be any different?' I thought._

_They said I could stay for the night and in that one night, Lee opened my eyes to the world and to humanity and friendship and what it means to have someone there for you. What it means to have someone that, you're not obliged to depend on, but that you do regardless._

_He opened my heart. I had been sure it was long frozen over but, in the space of a single night, he melted it. He made me smile, and laugh, and talk about things I had never talked about to anyone._

_It felt like he had been sent to me. Or I had been sent to him. He appeared before me as if by some divine will. All I had ever wanted. All I had ever needed._

_And I fell in love._

_But he loved Mirra. Perhaps…if it had been anyone but her…I would have fought. I would have at least tried to make him see how much I felt for him. But Mirra is someone special to me. Someone even more special than Lee. She was not and is not someone I could ever do that to._

_They don't know yet. I don't think we'll tell them. There's still too much shaky ground between us. Still that tension derived from a history we'd both probably rather forget. Something like going after the guy she loves would break us for sure. And I don't want that._

_I wish they'd just get together. Then that little fragment of hope in the back of my heart would quit its nagging._

_It hurts being here day after day. Watching them together. Smiling together. Mirra giving him hugs. Lee shyly returning them. Walking holding hands. I notice it all. And with every gesture, the heart he warmed freezes over a little more. Maybe it's time to go._

_I'd rather leave while I'm in love. I'd rather go and cherish this still half warm heart of mine. I'd rather still be able to look back and smile at these memories with happiness. I won't be able to do that very soon. Not if I begin to despise him for this pain._

_No. I'll leave. I never wanted to be here in the first place. They don't want me here. It's time to be on my way._

She sat in the corner of the balcony and rested her head against the rails and a small and salty tear slipped un-noticed down her cheek.

* * *

Kaoru awoke to find covers pulled up tightly around her and white, early morning sunlight streaming in through the window. She sat up and turned to the source of the light. Her eyes widened.

Kai sat on the window seat asleep. His mouth was open slightly and his head was resting against the glass. His chest was rising and falling with his deep, audible breaths.

"How long have you been sitting there?" She whispered quietly and received no answer. She shook her head in amazement. For Kai to have fallen asleep in such a ridiculous place…what was the time?

Once again her eyes widened. Six am! And…when had she fallen asleep anyway?

Ah. Of course. Kai had told her about his parents' deaths, and about Biovolt and she had ended up sobbing uncontrollably into his lap.

She blushed.

And then…then…when finally the tears had ceased she had been so warm and comfortable she had been unwilling to move and after quite some time, just lying on his lap, she had felt sleep tugging at her and had drifted off.

But that must have been 8:00, maybe 9:00 last night. Had…she slept all this time? What must the others think?

Kaoru tried to stand up, but in the process of doing so, her foot caught on the end of the doona and she tripped. She let out a little yelp.

"Mmm?" Kai mumbled and opened an eye tiredly. "You're awake."

"Look who's talking." She remarked lightly and untangled her foot. "Did I really sleep that long? What do the others think? I bet Tyson's attacked you for 'keeping me hostage'."

Kai nodded. "He definitely tried to. I told them we'd been talking and then you lay down on the bed and fell asleep because I was going on about some beyblade thing. I let them in to make sure you weren't dead. Hilary wanted to wake you and apologise but Tyson said you'd be grouchy if we did." Kaoru's blush grew darker. " So instead Hilary said that Tyson had to keep watch and tell her if you woke up. Of course he fell asleep in the first minute so Hilary assigned me the task instead. But I guess I was more tired than I thought, I must have dozed off pretty soon after cause I don't remember much."

She sat on the other side of the window seat and looked outside. "I guess I should be heading out…just in case Tyson's up and planning to burst in and make sure you're not seducing me…" She laughed a little at her own joke, hoping it would lighten the atmosphere a bit.

"Yes. You should do that." Said Kai, seemingly not even hearing the attempted humour.

And then suddenly, it was very awkward. Kaoru wasn't sure whether what had happened last night made them friends or had only promoted her from "acquaintance" to "acquaintance with an intimate knowledge of his past". It had seemed like they were friends last night…but now…neither knew quite how to act.

"Alright then." Kaoru smiled and stood up, beginning to turn away from him.

"Kaoru." He grabbed her wrist and she stopped and looked back. "I'm guessing you already know but…what I told you last night…you can't tell anyone else. You can't breath a word of it to anyone other than me. Alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I know. Don't worry."

Then, quietly, she left the room.

"Kaoru!" Ray waved at her from behind the kitchen counter. He was the only one up. She waved back and went to sit opposite him.

"Hey Ray." She smiled. "Whatcha making?"

"French toast and chocolate pancakes, this morning." He told her, nodding to the rather large pile of ingredients. Flour, cocoa, chocolate chips, butter, milk, eggs, cinnamon, sugar and, of course, bread.

"You're amazing!" Kaoru grinned.

Ray laughed. "Why thank you. Have a good sleep?"

She blushed lightly. "I did actually. And I'll thank you not to make any smart comments about it."

"Smart comments? I'm offended." Ray told her, beginning to measure the ingredients. But the smirk he was trying to suppress gave him away.

"Kai may have been in my bedroom…on my bed…and I may have fallen asleep on said bed, with…him…but I assure you it wasn't my intent to do so!"

"I see."

"Or his!" She added quickly and Ray chuckled. "Oh shut up. You know it was just a silly accident. I was tired. And he was, _I mean my bed was_ comfortable." Ray smirked knowingly, "And he certainly wasn't in it at the time so…"

"It's okay." Ray looked up and smiled at her. "I know. It's just going to be hard for Max, Hilary, and…possibly myself to let go of such an inviting chance to thoroughly tease you."

She went red again. "Fantastic."

"By the way, we're going sight-seeing today. You in?"

She smiled. "Definitely!"

* * *

Kaoru squealed. "I can't believe a real Princess actually used to live here! That's so cool!"

The caretaker of the temple laughed. "Yes it is, isn't it? Would you like to see her gown?"

"Oh! Yes please!" She was practically bouncing with excitement. The old man laughed again and led a skipping Kaoru into the next room.

"She definitely seems to be enjoying this."

"Kaoru's always had a bit of a passion for princesses and that. She used to want to be one when she was younger." Tyson smiled, and followed the girl.

Presently, the tour ended.

"You can buy replicas of the gown in the gift shop, just outside to the right."

Kaoru smiled and thanked the caretaker before heading of to buy one of the aforementioned gowns. Really, the old dress had been positively spectacular!

Parcel in hand, Kaoru set off down the temple steps and onto the street, the others followed.

"So where to now?" Asked Ray. Max, walking next to him, shrugged.

"Anywhere. Actually, I'm getting a bit hungry. What do you guys think about ice-cream?"

"You rock, Maxie!" Kaoru grinned.

The BladeBreakers collected at a pedestrian light and waited for the green to tell them to walk. Tyson stood next to the button, pressing it continuously as though to speed up the process.

"Stop it!" Hilary hissed, and gave him a soft tap to the head.

Tyson pouted, but stopped. The lights turned green as if to mock him.

Before they had reached the lights, Kai had been walking alone at the back of the group. When they had collected at the side of the road he had found himself unfavourably next to Kaoru. The lights turned green and, perhaps in an effort to put some sort of space between the two of them, Kai walked off quickly.

He collided with Kaoru, who stumbled back some.

"Uh…s-sorry." She muttered quickly, and then took off ahead. He stared after her with some degree of surprise. Those had been the first coherent words she'd said to him all day.

Once again Max and Kaoru led the group, falling back into their conversation about the Elites, and the possibility of facing them in the quarter, semi or, indeed, deciding finals. It didn't take Max too long, however, to notice that Kaoru's attention was elsewhere and that an almost un-noticeable blush was present on her cheeks.

He raised an eyebrow.

Behind them, what had been Ray and Hilary, became, Ray, Hilary, Tyson and Kenny. They too had noticed the less then courteous manner in which the two had been acting around each other that day. They had determined that the cause must have had something to do with last night's occurrences.

And while those exact occurrences were still uncertain, the solution - according to Hilary who had made up with Kaoru that morning - was not. They needed "alone time".

"Didn't they have enough of that last night?" Tyson argued.

Hilary gave him a dangerous look.

"Hilary, I agree they need to sort out their problem," Ray told her, a far away and thoughtful glint in his eyes, "But it doesn't seem right to but in and force them to do it. Shouldn't we just give them space, and let them work it out in the fullness of time?"

"We don't have the fullness of time." Argued Kenny, startling them. "Quarter finals start tomorrow. If they're not on the same page by at least the semis, there's a good chance we'll lose this."

Hilary nodded. "It's decided them.

Soon after they reached the park.

"Whatcha havin Ru?" Asked Tyson, and gave her a winning smile.

Kaoru poured over the ice creams. This store had a wide selection.

"Mmm…hazelnut, praline swirl please! Are you paying?"

"Ah…" he sighed, managing to look falsely beaten down, "I suppose if you insist."

"And I do." She agreed enthusiastically.

The other bladers purchased their ice creams too. Tyson: Bubblegum (his favourite), Hilary: Kahlua Tiramisu, Max: Rainbow, Ray: Rockyroad, Kenny: Honeycomb crunch and Kai: Mango Sorbet.

They squeezed onto a park table to eat the sweets, and when seven bladers and a computer compete for space, this is only possible when one blader sits actually on the tabletop. Lucky Kai.

"Oh no!" Exclaimed Hilary, just as everyone had settled, "I left my bag at the ice cream stand. Ah…Tyson! Come with me to get it!" She took his hand and pulled him with her. He didn't protest.

Max laughed as they ran away together. "Oh yeah." He muttered disbelievingly. "Oh look!" He exclaimed, mimicking Hilary. "I left my bag! Tyson! Come get it with me!"

Ray joined in, mimicking Tyson. "Oh, of course Hilary!" he was using a low, exaggerated tone, "I'll follow you to the ends of the earth! How about while we're there we make out a little?"

Kaoru laughed. "It wouldn't surprise me!" She agreed.

"Come on Ray!" Urged Max "There's no way we can miss this!"

"Yeah! No way!" Ray grinned and joined the other boy as he ran off, _accidentally _both leaving their bags behind.

"Hey chief," came the feminine voice of Dizzy. "Take me and I'll make sure we get some good pictures."

"Great idea Dizzy!" Agreed chief, and began to run off in pursuit of the others.

"Wait up Kenny! I'm coming too." Kaoru got up.

"Kaoru, you should stay here and watch the bags! I'd leave Kai to it, but I mean, think about it! Would Kai really care if our bags were taken?"

"But I can come if I want?" Asked Kai, slightly peeved at the accusation but letting it slide.

"No! You have to stay and look after Kaoru! Imagine some rapist coming along and just see her sitting there and taking her. Do you want that Kai?"

"Um…"

"Exactly!" said Dizzy decidedly, "Now both of you play nice!" And they were gone.

_Why do I get the feeling this was a set up?_

Still. Here he was, sitting next to the girl he had spilled all of his most heavily guarded, secretive secrets too. His most shameful past and…

It was awkward. The entire day had been awkward. Neither knew what to do around each other and it was especially hard to deduce this when alone together, as opposed to simply politely ignoring each other as they had done that day while with the others.

"I…" Kai looked up, surprised to hear Kaoru's small voice breaking the silence. "I think this is getting us no where."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We're both just running circles around each other. Ignoring each other because neither of us is sure how we're meant to act after last night.

"I…guess…" He knew she was right. "So…what do you suggest we do?"

"That is…" Kaoru swallowed uneasily. "I…um…as your friend!" She turned to him suddenly, a look of pure determination on her face. He blinked. Was this some sort of confession? "I…I want to be your friend so…I think this is necessary. Normally we'd do this slowly, getting to know each other bit by bit and building some sort of foundation of trust but…I think the two of us are just too stubborn for that to work so instead…I'll tell you…just what you can expect from me." She nodded.

"Uh-huh." Kai raised an eyebrow but listened politely.

"As your friend…" she began unsurely, then looked up at him confidently. "As your friend I would get really mad if you ever did me wrong."

"Eh?" Kai nearly fell off the table in surprise as Kaoru's heart felt confession turned into some sort of reprimand.

"If you walk down the wrong path I'll put you back on the right one. Even if I have to carry you there by force. If you hurt me, I'll cry and make you feel really guilty until you apologise. I will not tolerate being lied to. I will be treated with respect. But," she calmed down suddenly "you know…even if you should betray me or…or hurt me…I'll still forgive you. And I'll welcome you back with open arms."

Kai blinked then smiled ever so slightly. "I see."

"And you should know," Kaoru began again with renewed vigour, "I will never betray you, not even to Tyson! I will protect you, and look after you and maybe I'll end up mothering you a bit, you'll have to forgive me for that. I will be happy, and I'll smile and laugh. I will attempt to make you smile too. I will irritate you, but I'll tone it down if you ask me nicely. I won't hurt you on purpose. I may embarrass you. I will never lie to you. I won't ask you to tell me your secrets, but if you should chose to, I will listen. If I decide you need a hug I will hug you, no questions asked." Then she smiled," I will always insist on a bite of your ice cream, resistance shall prove futile."

And with that she smiled decidedly. Kai chuckled quietly.

"Huh. Is that so." He looked away, a ghost of a smile touching his face. The sun broke free from behind a cloud and shone down upon them. Suddenly Kaoru felt a little uneasy. Knowing Kai he'd just make some sarcastic comment and walk off…She began to fiddle nervously with the hem of her dress (a blue summery one she had thrown on that morning).

"I will not let anyone hurt you, if I can possibly prevent it." Kaoru's eyes widened in utter shock, "If someone does hurt you, I will hunt them down and beat them until they are bruised and bloody. I will not lie to you. I will not change myself. You may not ask me to change myself. However, upon request I will attempt to _act _a little nicer." Kaoru laughed and Kai scowled lightly at her for interrupting. "I will argue with you because I think it's fun. I will not be told to be nice to your brother. I will…" Kai trailed off a little, "always be worried if you're not smiling. If you need to talk, I will listen. If you are sad, I will offer you my shoulder to cry on. I will try to let you see a little of the person I used to be." Kai smirked; glad the serious part was over, "I _will_ give you a bite of my ice cream, but only in exchange for a bite of yours. And I take big bites."

Kaoru smile happily as Kai finally looked at her, a tiny smile of his own present.

"You drive a hard bargain Kai-kun, but I accept!"

"Hn." He agreed.

Kaoru's smile widened and she made beckoning motions with her hand.

"What?" Asked Kai, confused.

"We agreed!" argued Kaoru, "I will always insist on a bite of your ice cream. Remember?"

"Yeah. I remember." He handed it over with an amused look, Kaoru in turn handed him hers.

_I _will_ give you a bite of my ice cream, but only in exchange for a bite of yours. _Kai remembered his words and smiled a little before taking the thing from her.

…and promptly biting the side off it.

Kaoru's jaw dropped. "Hey! I said a bite! Not a third!"

"Warned you." He muttered lazily around the huge glob of ice cream still in his mouth.

Angrily, she attempted to devour his in the same manner, the effects, however, were less dramatic than intended. "Owwie! My teeff!" She exclaimed in pain. Kai snorted a laugh.

"Eyes bigger than your stomach?" He inquired casually and swallowed before taking another lick of her ice cream. "Mm…what was this flavour again?"

Kaoru glared and shoved his ice cream back at him. He took it and handed her hers. Kaoru sulked, taking slow purposeful licks of the sweet.

Kai smirked, a softer smirk than usual. He was happy. It was a sunny day (the kind Kai liked best), he was eating ice cream (one of his favourite things, not that he would ever admit it) and it felt strangely comfortable to be around Kaoru like this. He relaxed. After all, he had promised to let her see a little of how he used to be and relaxing on a sunny day was a good example.

Kaoru heard Kai sigh and cautiously looked his way. He was leaning back, a smile on his face, eyes closed in contentment, the sun bathing him in a soft white light. Aware that he wouldn't be able to see her, Kaoru smiled openly at him. Then allowed herself to relax as well, and closed her eyes peacefully, enjoying the sun.

"It's a nice day." She murmured.

Kai nodded, unbeknownst to her, and agreed "Hn."

"What if they weren't ignoring each other?" Tyson's voice sounded from somewhere not to far away. "Maybe they just had nothing to say! I don't think we should have left them alone. Not the way those two fight."

"Geez Tyson. Speak louder. I don't think they heard you in _Antarctica._"

"Huh?"

Kaoru opened her eyes and looked at Kai. Was she meant to act like his friend? Or as though nothing had changed between them?

He was sitting in nearly the same position except the smile was gone and his legs and arms were crossed. Kaoru understood.

"Kai-kun!" She whined, just as the others reached them, and took his arm. "Please give me a bit of your ice cream! Please, please?"

"Hn. No."

Kaoru pouted. "You're so mean! That does it! I'm not talking to you!"

She pretended to spot Hilary. "Hilary! Can I have a bite of your ice cream?"

Hilary showed the girl her bare hands. "Sorry Ru! I finished it."

Kaoru's lip wobbled. She sniffed.

"Maybe next time?" Hilary tried. Tears squeezed into Kaoru's eyes.

"Stop making a fuss over some non-existent ice cream." Kai told her.

"You be quiet."

"I thought you weren't talking to me."

"I'm not!" She exclaimed and huffed and turned away. The others laughed.

"Seems like everything's back to normal." Said Max quietly to Ray.

The boy smiled and nodded.

"Well then! Where to next?" Asked Hilary brightly. "I hear the botanical gardens are lovely this time of year."

"To the botanical gardens then!" Exclaimed Kaoru, pointing ahead of herself and beginning to walk dragging Kai behind her.

"Kaoru! Let me go. I'd much rather _not_ be pulled all the way to the gardens."

"If you wanted me to slow down then you should have just said." As promised she slowed down a little.

"No. I want you to _let go_." He said menacingly.

She turned to him and stuck out her tongue. He fumed.

The others walked casually behind, laughing a little at the entertainment.

Kaoru tripped a little and Kai stumbled forward with her.

"Dammit! If you insist on dragging me, could you at least attempt to remain upright?"

She turned and shot him one of her most happy, life-loving, laughter filled smiles. A light wind licked at her hair and lifted it over her shoulder, a whisp of it fluttering over her nose. Her dress floated gently out and the sun chose that moment to peek from behind the clouds and bath Kaoru's silhouette in its soft glow.

She squeezed his hand.

Kai didn't even attempt to fight the smile that ghosted across his own face. They were friends now right? This kind of behaviour was normal. Especially for someone as overly cheerful and confident in themselves as Kaoru was. And the others couldn't see so…he could smile back a bit right? Right. Kai really didn't mind smiling all that much. At least not when it wasn't going to compromise his image.

He squeezed back, so lightly that she may not have been able to notice.

But she did.

Kaoru' lips quirked just a little higher, before she turned back to the front, hair swishing into place.

And she maintained a firm grip on his hand all the way to the gardens.

* * *

The day of the quarter finals, the BladeBreakers and the White Tigers gathered in the white tigers hotel room.

"Renna! You can't leave!" Lee argued.

"Well…" she mumbled sheepishly, embarrassed to have to discuss this in front of the others, "I can't stay either so…"

"Why can't you stay? I don't understand. Did…I do something wrong or…was I a bad captain to you? Has something happened? You're okay aren't you Renna?" He seemed truly worried.

"Ah! Yes! I'm fine…it's not that…and you didn't do anything either. You've been…a…really wonderful captain." The last words were mumbled so quietly he wasn't sure he heard them. "There's just something I have to take care off. I never wanted to be part of this team anyway."

"You have to take care off? Then I should come too, shouldn't I?" Mirra stood up suddenly, eyes worried.

"What! No!"

"It's _that_, isn't it? In that case, I have no other choice."

"Mirra." Mumbled Lee, sadly.

"Mirra!" Exclaimed Renna, accusingly.

"Renna!" Exclaimed Mirra, just as accusingly.

"Mirra and Renna…Mirra and Renna…" Kaoru muttered to herself, attracting the attention of the others. "Where have I heard that before…" She scratched her head viciously, "I _know_ I've _heard _that before!" Frustrated, she messed up her hair and retreated to her lap. "Mirra and Renna...Mirra and Renna, dammit!"

Suddenly her head snapped back up, eyes wide. A tiny vision leapt through her head.

--Flash--

"Uh…Wait! I'm Kaoru Kumori! What's your name?"

"Huh? Oh. It's Renna. Renna Misato."

"I hope we'll meet again Renna!"

"…Yeah…me too."

--End--

"W-wait…Tyson…" Renna turned to him slowly and then back to Kaoru, "He's your brother…then…"

"R-Renna…Misato." Kaoru stood up shakily and looked at the girl.

"Kaoru. Kaoru Kumori."

* * *

-Sigh- A/N TIME!

(1) - Dark Dranzer - It was Dark Dranzer right? Not Black Dranzer or something…X0 Can't remember!

O.O Whoa. That was really short… Actually, I had the feeling I had more, if I've missed something then please tell me

So now, without further ado, REVIEW! (Zomg. I'm rhyming.)

Chocolate Kai shaped profiteroles for reviewers, and evil rabbits for people who flame me for being a bad updater .

-Love-

Soi.


	9. Old Friends, New Love, Hurt Feelings

Kaoru sat quietly on the park bench

Oh. My. God. This chapter has positively hated me. You think I've been neglecting this story but you're wrong! I've been chugging away at this about a sentence a day ever since I posted the last one because I simply couldn't get motivated to write it. -sigh-

Needless to say it's not a favourite chapter of mine ¬¬ I don't think it's particularly bad mind, there's a bit of love in the air and what not, and I've finally been able to write some serious Renna, which I've been looking madly forward to, but yeh. Basically, I like the chapter as a whole, but I have /not/ enjoyed writing it -dies-

Nonetheless, please enjoy and tell me what you think, I'm soo so sorry it's so late but I really have been trying (believe it or not).

Have fun

**IMPORTANT!! **I felt I should inform you that my normal beta wasn't able to do this chapter as she has moved away -sob- So it is un-betaed. As will, probably, the large majority of future chapters be. Sorry about that. I did my best to proof it myself but I'm sure there are some bad bits. Be kind

* * *

**Old Friends, New Love, Hurt Feelings.**

Kaoru sat quietly on the park bench. Two small pigtails at the base of her head, bobbed lightly as the wind. She drew her knees up to her chest.

A sudden sound disturbed the peace of the cold afternoon. A loud stomping coming down the asphalt pavement. Kaoru looked up.

A little girl with pale blond hair, held back at the front with a headband, was storming down the sidewalk, lips pursed together in a way that made it look as though she was suppressing tears. She sat down heavily next to Kaoru. She sniffed.

A few minutes passed in which Kaoru pretended to not notice the gradual decline in her company's will to remain tearless. It wasn't long before the little girl began to sob.

Kaoru was young, but she was very used to talking to people. Especially those sad or crying.

"Hey. Are you okay?" She asked carefully.

"I'm fine! Leave me alone."

"U-uh…I'm sorry. I thought…maybe you'd want to talk."

"Well I don't."

Kaoru smiled. "I see."

A short silence followed.

"Tell me." Muttered the other girl. "Who do you hate?"

"Hate?" Kaoru was surprised.

"Who do you hate?"

"I…ah…I make a point of not hating anyone. It was something my mother taught me. There are people I wish I'd never met. And people I hold so much distain for that it hurts to think about them. But I don't hate anyone. It's a principle I live by." She smiled proudly.

"A foolish principle."

"No! It's not." Kaoru told her angrily. "Please. The memory of my mother is something I hold dear and the lessons she taught me are not something you can just make fun of."

"The memory of your mother?"

Kaoru was quiet for a moment. "She passed away. About a year ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Alright then, I forgive you but you owe me. Why did you ask me who I hated?"

The girl made a laughing sound and looked away. "I don't know. I guess…maybe I do want to talk. But I don't even know you!"

"I'm 10. How old are you?"

The blond blinked. "11." She said quietly.

"So…we're pretty much the same age. That probably means I'll understand you better than someone else would. I'm a really good listener, I promise."

"You…you sound like you had a really great mum but…I didn't. Unlike you, I do believe in hate. And I do hate people. Two people really. My parents. My mum and dad. Both of them have wronged me in so many ways, I could never forgive them."

"How can you hate your parents?" Kaoru was shocked.

"Oh it's easy!" Promised the girl angrily. "My mother has never done a single thing motherly. I make my breakfast, I do _our_ shopping, and I get _her_ ready for work, which only _just_ gets us by. You can be sure that the minute I turn fifteen and can work a job myself, she'll quit hers and I'll be doing _everything._ She drinks and smokes and, I don't know what else. She's always got a new boyfriend and…she's always on some…medicine."

"Oh…I can't even imagine."

"Of course you can't." The girl shook her head. "It wasn't so bad when Dad was still around. He put up with mum for us cause knew how hard it would be for us to have to leave our home and our way of life. He worked like crazy so we could have everything we needed. Mum never cared. They used to fight like wild. About everything. Money, her drinking and smoking, and her medicine but in the end it was too much for dad and he had to leave. I couldn't blame him and I even was a bit happy to be leaving but…then he left me there with her! He left me to carry everything by myself and he took my twin sister with him. How did he do it? Eenee-meenee-minee-mo? Or did he just like her better than me? I know mum would have taken him to court and tried to get a hold of us both, she probably would have too because she's a really good lyre but he could have at least tried! Or he could have sent me money…or letters! Anything!

"I hate him! I hate her! I hate them both so damn much! How could they do this to me? How could they take Mirra away from me?"

"Mirra…is…she your sister."

"Yeah. She is."

"You sound like you really care about her."

"The twin thing's pretty special."

"Well…I guess it's not the same really but…I have two brothers."

The girl laughed. "That must be fun."

"It is that." Kaoru laughed too.

"What are their names?"

"Tyson and Hiro. Hiro is 14 and Tyson is 10."

"Oh? Is Tyson your twin then?"

"Ah! No!" Kaoru laughed. "That is…well Tyson's born in January and I've only just had my birthday recently."

The girl blinked. "But how can that be? You're born in the same year?"

"Uh…well…actually I'm adopted."

"Oh…"

"But that was a long time ago and as far as I'm concerned Tyson and Hiro are just as much my brothers as they would have been should we have been born to the same parents."

"Sounds like you care a lot about them too."

Kaoru smiled sadly and looked away. "Sometimes I wonder."

"What do you mean?"

"When mum died, Hiro left and I didn't even try to stop him. And now I've left too."

"Left? You mean like run away?"

"No. Not that. I just left. That is…well…dad said it was okay." She sighed, "See, Ty changed a lot after mum passed away and there was nothing I could do for him. So I decided to leave so he could meet people who would help him be happy again."

"Where did you live then?"

"Tokyo."

"Japan?" The girl was clearly surprised.

"Yeah. But now I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do." Kaoru wrapped her arms around her knees. "Tyson was begging me to stay. He even said he hated me for leaving him. I feel so bad. And I miss him like hell. I don't know. Maybe I should just go back."

"No. I think you did the right thing. We always complain that we want things to change, but no one ever does anything about it!"

"You don't understand!" Kaoru exclaimed, attracting the other girls' full attention and causing the tears that had been steadily gathering at her eyelashes to slip down her cheeks, "He told me he loved me and I left! My best friend…and my big brother…I left him all alone. I'm so selfish!"

"I still think you did the right thing." Kaoru blinked. "And it was a brave thing too. You didn't just leave him alone, you left yourself alone. And one day, I'm sure you'll be glad you took this chance."

"I-I…"

"In fact!" The girl stood up determinedly, "You've inspired me! I'm always complaining about my mum, and about my life, but I never try to change it! So I'm gonna! I'm gonna be brave and take the chance. And I'm gonna go find my sister. Even if it takes me forever." She grinned.

Kaoru smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah! I'm gonna do it! I'll put away a little bit of the shopping money each week, and I'll get some odd jobs. Babysitting, or dog walking, I'll keep going until I have enough money to travel and then I'll go find Mirra."

"Mirra. All right, I'll remember and if I meet her I'll tell her you're looking for her."

"Thanks." The girl smiled, "And I mean for everything. I haven't felt this happy in a long time!" She laughed and rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed.

Kaoru smiled, "Well thank you too. I think you're right. I will keep travelling and then one day I'll go back to Tyson and he'll be happy again, and we'll be like we used to be."

The girl nodded. "I should be getting home. Mum'll be angry if I'm too late."

"Okay. Look after yourself and thanks again for talking to me."

"Yeah, no worries, and thank _you _for talking to _me_. I'll see ya later."

"Uh…Wait! I'm Kaoru Kumori! What's your name?"

"Huh? Oh. It's Renna. Renna Misato."

"I hope we'll meet again Renna!"

"…Yeah…me too."

--End Flashback--

* * *

The girls blinked at each other.

"I..I can't believe it's really you…" Mumbled Renna quietly. A small smile spread across her face.

"Neither can I…" agreed Kaoru. Then she grinned, "Renna!" She bounded towards the girl and wrapped her in a big hug. "You're amazing! You really did everything you said you would!"

Renna half grinned, half cringed, trapped in the other girls' almighty hug. "You're a bit different to what I remember."

Kaoru laughed, "Look who's talking!" And then noticing the pink tipped strand of blond delicately hung over her nose, commented, "Wow. Nice hair!"

"Yours too." Agreed Renna "It grew really long huh?"

"Um…" Interrupted Lee.

The girls looked at him.

"Oh…ah…" Renna laughed, "This is Kaoru. I mean…well you knew that but…um…" She looked at Kaoru, helpless. The girl grinned and grabbed Renna's shoulders turning her to face the BladeBreakers.

"Meet Renna." She instructed, "A friend I made when I was travelling."

"Wow." Ray was surprised, "Really?"

"Mhmm." Kaoru grinned. "Renna, this is Tyson, my brother."

"Pleased to meet you," Renna smiled and bowed and then took Kaoru's shoulders and turned her to the white tigers, "Meet Mirra, my…uh…" She trailed off.

There was an uncertain pause.

"You and Mirra knew each other before you joined the team?" Asked Mariah, surprised.

"Uh…" Renna gulped. Indeed they had neglected to mention the nature of their relationship to their teammates.

"Pleased to meet you." Kaoru interrupted and shook Mirra's hand. So they hadn't told their team their secret. Kaoru didn't really care. And she was happy to meet the much beloved twin of Renna.

"Pleased to meet you too." Grinned Mirra, "Renna did once tell me of a young girl who gave her the strength to change her future, face her demons and escape from her past. I don't suppose that was you?"

Kaoru blinked and looked at Renna. The girl blushed and Kaoru turned back to Mirra, "Guess so." She grinned. Mirra giggled.

"Well then thank you. It seems I owe you a great debt."

"Nah. We're even. Trust me."

"Well…thank you anyway."

"You're very welcome."

"Everything turned out pretty good, huh." Commented Renna and Kaoru turned to the girl.

"What do you mean?"

"Tyson seems pretty happy to me, but I could be wrong." The boy blinked.

Kaoru giggled and took her friends hand, swinging it happily, "Yeah, he is." She smiled fondly at her brother who tilted his head to the side, extremely confused, "And me too." She turned back to the blond, "Thank you. You'll never understand how much. I met so many people that I forgot your name, and your face and I'm so sorry for that, but I always remembered what you did for me and I always will."

Renna shock her head. "I forgot you too, almost. Except that I remembered meeting a girl who made me change the way I lived, and being very grateful."

The girls smiled at each other happily.

"Was it a happy ending for you too?" Asked Kaoru after a minute.

"Something like that." Affirmed the other with a smile.

Kaoru grinned then and dragged the blond towards the balcony, "I'd say we have some serious catching up to do, neh?"

The others (save for Mirra) sat still, staring at where the two girls had disappeared in confusion.

"What just happened?" Asked Mariah, after a very long pause.

"Can't say I'm entirely sure." Commented Ray in wonder.

* * *

"AND THAT'S IT FOLKS! THE BLADEBREAKERS ARE THROUGH TO THE FINALS!"

A wild cheer arose.

"WE'LL COMMENCE THE SECOND MATCH OF THE DAY AFTER A 45 MINUTE LUNCH BREAK! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LOOK AROUND AND CHECK OUT OUR FACILITIES, BUT BE SURE TO BE BACK ON TIME CAUSE NEXT UP THE WHITE TIGER'S WILL BATTLE IT OUT WITH THE ELITES! YOU DON'T WANNA MISS THIS!"

And with that DJ Jazzman disappeared below the stadium floor on his self-elevating platform.

Tyson was the first to speak, a big grin on his face. "Well then. I'm about ready for lunch."

"Here's to lunch!" Exclaimed Kaoru, punching the air.

"Here's to the Finals!" Continued Max, copying the gesture.

"Here's to some peace and quiet." Mumbled Kai, making his way through his loud team and off down the wings, their hoots of laughter chasing him all the way.

* * *

"It's two for two and it's come right down to this folks." The commentators, like the crowd, were edge of their seats, afraid to speak louder than a whisper for fear of disturbing the very delicate tension.

"Dammit!" Hissed Lee falling onto his knees. All the hopes of the White Tigers were riding on his shoulders now.

The first match had paired Gary with the older more experienced Makan. He'd fought valiantly but barely stood a chance. The boy was too much.

Lee had lost the first round to Patrick then recovered and beaten him in the second. Now, well into the third round, the strength of both bladers was spent. They were perfectly matched in strength, speed, and defence. Even in stamina. It had been by shear luck that the previous had been won and now it was all they could do to remain conscious. Sensing a conclusion fast approaching, the spectators were quiet, and watching intently.

"I'll beat you." Stated Lee, just as the other boy collapsed to his knees as well. "I'll beat you, I swear it."

Pat smiled. "Can't let you do that friend. The girl I like is watching."

Lee managed a small quirk of the lips. "Is that so. I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to disappoint her. Galeon!"

"No…way…" Managed Patrick, through a cough. He made a wide arm gesture and his blade took of around the side of the dish towards Lee's.

The two blades collided in a shower of sparks. One olive green, the other black, and both hot with exertion. They parted quickly.

"C'mon Everon, we can do this!" Pleaded Pat quietly as his blade skipped away from the Lee's. "Attack again!"

"Go!"

Again they hit, but this time just barely. One of the triangular spokes of Pat's blade grazed the black blade with a screech before ricocheting off. They sped away from each other for a second but then quickly re-directed and collided again. The two blades continued in this way for quite a few minutes but with every hit and near miss they slowed a little more and became further un-balanced.

Lee bit his lip. _This isn't going to work. It's gonna be a tie if one of us doesn't do something big…_ _My team, and their futures, ride upon the outcome of this match. A tie isn't good enough!_

He clenched his fist and forced his knees to move. He had to stand up and show his opponent he was stronger, but his stomach felt like cement. Grinding his teeth together and using every ounce of power in his body, Lee rose to his feet. Ignoring all the pain and exhaustion, he managed to straighten his wobbling knees and stand tall. Much taller than he felt.

Patrick cursed. "As if you can stand up." And forced himself to rise from his knees onto shacking legs. But his exhaustion was too much, and he knees remained buckled, his hands clenching them, knuckles white, as they supported his upper body.

"Which one?" Asked Lee looking behind Patrick to his team. Pat smiled.

"Brown hair, really cute. Probably looks scared out of her mind."

Lee chuckled. "I see. Well then, please forgive me for what I'm about to do." He looked down at Pat who met his eyes fearlessly. "Galeon. Spiral Lightning."

The audience gasped as dozens of tendrils of black lightning shot out of the blade and soared upwards coiling around one another.

"Huh. That's…pretty cool." Commented Pat casually. "Guess I should fight back but…I dunno…if I still have it in me." He laughed bitterly. The hissing black light speed towards him. "Let's give it a go…EVERON!"

A silver and white deer emerged.

Pat groaned, the exertion of simply summoning his beast too much. "Damn…I don't…have the strength to attack…" He looked over his shoulder to where Abigale stood, eyes wide and worried. His own sea-green eyes hardened. "Everon." He commanded quietly, never looking away, "Raise you head and be proud. Stand sturdy and don't back down, take his attack head on."

The bit beast did as he bid it. It lifted its elegant head and waited, the determination in its eyes never faulted, even when the black, crackling mass of light enveloped it. It didn't attempt to retreat, or even hesitate, but stepped forward, and into its demise.

Pat allowed himself to collapse to his knees again, still looking over his shoulder at Abi. An dainty hand covered her mouth. Her eyes were wide and brimming with tears. He cursed himself. He'd made her cry.

One hand steadied him on the ground as he smiled and mouthed 'sorry'. He saw her eyes widen in realisation just before his slipped closed. And heard, just before he became unconscious, his name, called desperately in her honey soft voice.

* * *

The voices of the commentators sounded strange and far away, muffled and ghostly, from where she stood in the wings. She could tell they were explaining the situation to the spectators and apparently advising them to take a toilet break but it was all very blurry.

"Patrick." Whispered Abi, as she stood beside his stretcher, doctors nearby making diagnoses and checking vitals. Lachlan slung an arm loosely over her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"He'll be ok, Abs." He assured her, "Pats always been a toughie, nothing gets him down for long."

She nodded a little and smiled. Tai made an affirmative noise at her side and then took the older girls hand.

A soft 'Excuse me', was expelled from behind Abi and she turned to find a pretty young doctor smiling at her. "It seems to just be a severe case of exhaustion Miss…"

"Taylor." She told her quietly.

"Miss Taylor. He should wake up very shortly."

"He appears to be coming to now Dr." Inturupted a petit little nurse in pale pink garb.

The doctor nodded and smiled at the remaining Elites. "There's nothing else we can do for him, so we'll leave you to it." She made a gesture at the nurses and they all began to exit.

Ebony was the first to waltz over to the stretcher. She lent lazily on the side of it and watched as the boy blinked a little in the now unaccustomed light. "You ok Pat?" She asked, black hair falling from behind her ears and onto his face, tickling his cheeks.

"Eb-ny." He muttered, still very confused.

She smiled widely and ruffled his hair a little. "You're alright." She told him and then turned away. "Come on Locky, he's fine."

"Get some sleep idiot," commented Lachlan as he walked past casually. "I'll fill ya in on everything later."

"Um…k?"

"Are you really alright Pat?" Asked Tai, scarcely tall enough to look over the stretcher.

"Yeah, you look a little dazed, bud." Sophie added, leaning in over the little girl.

"Where am I?" Asked the red head.

"Just in the wings." Smiled Sophie. "You passed out after the battle with Lee, so they brought you back here to make sure nothing was wrong."

"And…nothing's wrong?"

"Nope!" Smiled Tai, "You're absolutely fine."

"They said you were badly exhausted." Added Sophie helpfully.

Pat looked around. "Where're Aaron and Makan?"

"Preparing for the next match. We can't just forfeit now you know! Actually, I should really be helping them…come on Tai, you too." She grinned and took the little red head away with her.

"See ya later Pat!" Called the girl before she was dragged out of earshot.

In the silence there after Pat gradually built up the courage to turn his head to face his last remaining team mate.

Abigale stood beside the stretcher, head hung and hair limp. "Hey Abi." He tried to smile dumbly and feinting the 'don't worry, I'm still an idiot' bit.

"Shut up." She said darkly and his smile dissolved. His Abi never spoke like that. She was always demure, delicate, polite and shy and pristine, cute smiles and agreeable honey coloured eyes. Except…when she wasn't. "Shut up. I can't believe you'd do something like that."

"S-sorry."

"I never thought you were an idiot. Even though they always say you are, and even though they always call you one, I never believed. Until now."

"Sorry…Abi."

"No!" Her head snapped up, hair flying away from her cheeks, and he saw large crystal like tears ready to spill from her perfect eyes. "It's not okay! I won't just forgive you! I'm so angry Pat!" The tears bulged over the brim of her eyes and tumbled down her cheeks. "I can't believe you'd think I was more important than your health or your safety. I'm nothing special! I'm just some…girl! Why…" her voice broke as she leant over him and cupped his cheek. "Why would you go to such lengths to prove that you're worthy of me Pat? Why would you risk everything, and stand and fight even when it's hopeless, just because I'm watching. What if something had happened to you? Why…would you be such an idiot!?" She shut her eyes tightly as anger swirled in her again, and a few tears squeezed themselves out and fell onto his cheeks.

"Cause I love you." He told her simply. "And I know you don't believe me Abs but it's true. I really do love you. I love everything about you; I think you're the best person in the world. And I'd do it all again if that's what it takes to show you, to let you know I'd do anything for you, I'd give my life for you in a flash. Please believe me. I'd never lie to you Abi."

He stared solidly and determinedly into her watery eyes and despite the overwhelming sense of exhaustion managed to smile. A true smile, not just the happy-go-lucky smile of an idiot.

"Idiot." She whispered again, and stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "If it's true what you said, that you'd do anything for me, then just stop hitting on other girls, that'd…that'd be enough." She bent back down and pushed the hair out of his face before placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

His eyes widened, surprised at the sudden and uncharacteristic action. But before he had had time to process it further she had pulled away.

She was blushing profusely but managed to hold her ground briefly. Stroking his red hair tenderly she mumbled, "Get some rest, stupid." before hastily leaving him to do so.

* * *

"Welcome back you crazy beyblade fans!" Called A.J. Topper from his perch in the announcers box.

"To the third and final match up of today's titanic clash!" Continued Brad Best enthusiastically.

"It really has been an amazing battle hasn't it Brad? When it comes down to the semis only the best of the best are left in the game and you've just gotta give it the best you've got."

"I hear ya A.J. It sure has been spectacular today. Who would have thought the Elites and the White Tigers would have been so well matched?"

"Not I Brad. Not I."

"And I tell ya A.J. I just can't wait to see who's gonna win this, it's really come down to the wire."

"It certainly has Brad. Now remember, the Elites took out the first match 2-0. The second battle was intense! But it ended up in the White Tigers favour and they won 2-1. We have been informed that Patrick of the Elites is fine and is only suffering sever exhaustion."

"What a great match, don't you agree A.J.? And now, what you've all been waiting for! It's the deciding match! A doubles battle, as agreed by both teams and it will be one round only. The competitors from the Elites, their best apparently, Aaron Hatten and Abigale Taylor!"

Wild cheers arose from the crowd as the two blader walked up to the dish, blades in hand and game faces on.

"The bladers the White Tigers are sending out are also apparently their best Brad."

"That's funny. I would have figured that Lee, their captain was their best."

"So would I have Brad. But apparently this blader has beaten Lee on a number of occasions. In fact, he has even gone so far as to say she is twice as strong as him."

"Twice as strong as Lee? Who is this mystery blader A.J.?"

"Blading fans, please welcome a new member of the White Tigers, Renna! This will be her first battle of the tournament, her debut! Her partner Mirra, is also a new member but has battled a few times during the tournament, both on her own and in a pair with Lee."

"What are the White Tigers thinking A.J.? Introducing, not only a new blader but also a new pair to the tournament at this late stage? Is it some kind of wild gamble? Are they that desperate?"

A close up of the girls walking up to the dish flashed onto the big screens. Both looked calm and quietly confident. The picture changed to one of Lee, sitting on the sidelines with a smug smirk stretched across his face.

"I'm thinking desperate might be the wrong word Brad."

"As am I A.J. Lee looks more assured than I've seen him this entire tournament."

The smirk on Lees' face grew. 'Assured?' He thought. That sounded about right. Renna was his best blader, much better than him, and Mirra was the person he trusted most in the whole world. Separately, they were both exceptional bladers and a force to be reckoned with; together…they were something else entirely.

Lee had intended to keep this strategy for the finals, but due to Renna's recently expressed desire to leave the team (though he had heard no more about it since Kaoru and Renna had become reacquainted) he'd decided it would be a good idea to have her blade as a White Tiger, hoping that it would make her feel more like one of them. The fact that the Elites had been so strong that he'd needed to pull out his trump card to beat them only sealed the deal.

"Oh! Are they starting already A.J.?"

"Looks like it Brad!" Replied A.J., and sure enough Lee observed that Renna and Mirra were being instructed as to where to stand.

"BLADERS READY?" Boomed D.J. Jazzman and with synchronised nods, the competitors removed their blades and launchers.

"THEN 3, 2, 1! LET IT RIP!"

There was a thunderous noise as something exploded from the end of Renna's launcher. A huge whoosh of air enveloped the stadium, throwing Renna, Mirra and Abigale's hair back and out of their faces forcefully, and nearly bowling Aaron over. Then with a pronounced '_thwack!'_ the thing hit the surface of the large rocky terrain bey dish clear seconds before the others. It wasted no time in evading several large boulders and quickly found the centre of the field.

Here it stopped and waited as the others got their bearings.

It was a dark red beyblade with large, highly polished blades decorating the edges of the attack ring and it spun so fast it made a whining noise.

A few seconds later and Mirra's pink and yellow blade had found Renna's and was spinning contentedly beside it.

"Slow." Commented Renna with a smirk.

"No." Mirra pouted, "Just slower than you."

The blond chuckled, and then addressing her blade commanded, "Half speed, Serapha"

The blade slowed to about the average spinning speed of a beyblade. It's whining had stopped for the most part.

"You too Rushi. Conserve as much power as possible." The yellow and pink blade slowed dangerously but somehow maintained its balance. Then, just as it looked like it might stop, little wing like appendages snapped out of the attack ring and supported it. It looked almost to be flying.

Across from the two odd beyblades spun to more regular looking ones. One was a bright red, the blade that had attacked Kai's in the Battel Royal. It belonged to Aaron, and the bitbeast inside it was a great black dog, named Umaraa. The other was a beautiful white blade, basic frame, no stickers; a clean, bright shape against the rocky terrain. The bitbeast inside was a mystery, but would not remain so for long.

"Aaron," said the girl calmly "I'm finishing this now."

She looked different in the ring. Steadfast and assured as opposed to shy and insecure.

"Delmaru!" She cried, and a chestnut furred gazelle stepped gracefully out onto the field. "Freeze." She ordered and the ground below the gazelle's hooves immediately hastened to obey. The mass of frozen ground spread until it reached Mirra and Renna's blades and then it reared up like a giant tidal wave. The peak of the ice wave transformed into a ridge of a thousand icicles, each sharpened precisely and it began to crash down

Renna held out a hand and very calmly ordered, "Short Circuit it, Serapha." And as simply as that the massive ice wave began to decompose. Bright green light cut through it crookedly, separating small, square, computer chip-like pieces off which then floated away to disappear.

Abi gasped and the gazelle, Delmaru, backed away with a sound of distinct discomfort. "Impossible! How can you just dispel an attack!"

Renna smiled. "Skill." She answered simply and turned to her sister. "Finish it Mir."

The brunette nodded and turned to her blade. "Rushi. Cut speed again, then use your Double Ganger!"

The blade obeyed, spinning so slowly that it really did look as though it was just floating there on its strange little wings. And then it began to hum.

It was a low, rough noise that hurt somewhere in the bottom of Abi and Aaron's stomachs. It seemed to vibrate through the air, and the very floor they stood on. And then somehow, there were eight pink and yellow, winged blades, and all looked exactly the same.

They charged all at once towards the white blade, separated, and then centred around it so that the only way it could go was up. With a strangled noise, Delmaru disappeared back inside and the blade flew upwards, spinning backwards in the air and very nearly out of the dish but it caught the very edge on it's attack ring and fell, wobbling, back into the fight.

Mirra cursed.

"Oi! Just who do you think you are?" Demanded Aaron, stepping forward, his blade glowing purple.

"Pardon?" Renna asked politely.

"Just what are you playing at dispelling her attack and then double teaming her!"

"That's why we're the best double in this tournament." Mirra assured him quietly. "Because no one can beat us."

"Umaraa!" The great black dog appeared, chained and muzzled and growling ferociously. "Abi, call yours."

"Delmaru." She commanded softly and the gazelle appeared again.

Confronted with two bitbeast, the sisters shared a look, confirmed their next step, and turned to their blades.

"Rushi!" Called Mirra, and a great saber toothed black puma appeared with golden, fluffy bird wings.

"Serapha." The bitbeast next to it was quite a contrast. A white leopard, with a bright green, cyber-like network of lines patterning its body, face, and mechanical, dragon wings.

The beasts squared of for a long moment when suddenly Mirra gave a shout. A mass of black spikes had shot up under her blade and pierced one of her bits wings. The puma gave a great, silent yowl of pain, then, gold eyes glinting angrily, charged forward toward the black dog and the boy who was laughing appreciatively.

"You sneak!" Roared the brown haired girl but her sister held out a hand.

"Stop."

The younger obeyed immediately. "Ren -"

"Allow me." Smiled Renna, and licked her lips, "You take the girl."

Mirra giggled and nodded, "K." and then whispered to the blond something that would not have been heard at all if not for the microphone around her neck, "Spare his bit ok. For me?"

Her sister raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, "If that's what you want…"

"Go Rushi." Commanded Mirra and the injured puma sprung forward to clash with the gazelle.

"You don't think you'll destroy Umaraa do you?" Smiled Aaron, unfazed as he faced the cold blue eyes of his opponent.

"No." Agreed Renna quietly; "I won't destroy you pup, since I was asked not to. But your blade…yes. I shall leave it in pieces."

The boy growled but did not look intimidated. "Fight me then!" He commanded, but the blond shook her head.

"No need." She smiled then, "It'll be a single blow."

Before he could respond the high-pitched whine began again. Abigale swore and clutched her head, and Mirra, more used to the sound, stepped back and secured her footing. Aaron stood steadfast.

Then her blade was gone, simply vanished. And just as suddenly, but with a sickening crunch, Umaraa hit the edge of the blade dish. The dog gave a silent yelp and then vanished.

Spinning so fast it was a blur, Renna's blade pounded the red one further into the wall so that it began to come apart.

"Umaraa!" Cried Aaron in shock and anguish. "Maraa…" He sank onto his knees and as he did one of the polished blades of Renna's beyblade slid under the boys bit chip and severed it from the rest of the contraption. It flew up and he caught it in wonder. And then the slaughter was finished and Renna's blade left the other one to return to her sisters' fight.

The stadium was silent.

"Mir, let's end this now." Commented the blond lightly, and the sound was carried across the silent space. "It's become boring."

"Hmm? Ok." The brunette smiled.

"Don't…Don't take me so lightly!"

Both turned to the shy, brown haired girl across from them, who stood, practically shaking with rage.

"How dare you think so highly of yourselves as to treat me as a mere obstruction of your view. You may be powerful, but you are arrogant, and I won't let you win so easily! Delmaru!" The gazelle bit stomped its hoof and seemed to loom above the cat bits, large with the enormity of its anger. "Use Hidden Abyss!"

There was an immense groan and the ground, inside the dish and out was suddenly, unexplainably frozen.

Mirra shrieked and fell to her knees as the ground she stood on shook and then was, unimaginably rent from the ground Renna stood upon.

"Mirra!" Cried the blond, distraught as she watched her twin once again torn from her.

The younger was shaken, but not harmed and carefully got to her feet to look back across the gaping ravine to her sister "I'm ok Ren."

"You've been split up. You can't fight together now, so we're back on even playing field." Abi stood across from them, chest heaving but seeming calmer. "Forgive me Mirra, but I'll defeat you now, ok?"

The girl signalled to her gazelle, and the creature trotted back to her happily, then turned and faced the black puma.

Mirra bit her lip, but did not back down. "Rushi, spread your wings."

"Delmaru!" Commanded Abigale, "Attack now!" The gazelle charged, head forward and horns bared "Freezing Point!" (1)

"Rushi! Golden Tempest!"

The great black puma, and the delicate coffee coloured gazelle sped towards each other, ones fiercely sharpened, ice entwined horns glinting menacingly, and the others huge bird wings beating up a simmering golden tornado.

The two attacks met and for a moment there was nothing but the subsequent explosion of glittering gold, and icy silver and then as the blinding display began to clear, a sound resounded. And 'shinkk' sound, like that of a sword sliding from its scabbard.

The scene was unexpected, for spinning still, though weakly on the slick ice, was Delmaru, Abigale's blade. And below in the craggy abyss, on one of the many needles of fractured ice, impaled and still, rested Mirra's Rushi.

The brunette gasped and fell to her knees and looked deep into the hole. Then she sighed.

"Rushi…" questioned Renna, worried lacing her voice.

"Fine." Sighed the younger and smiled. The needle of ice had somehow skewered the blade diagonally, avoiding the chip.

"Thank god." Sighed the blond and turned to her weary opponent. "Had you destroyed Rushi, I would take your bit as payment, but since that is not the case, only your blade will be forsaken. Serapha, Vir-"

"Ren!" The elder paused instantly and turned to her sister, "There's no need. Just look at the situation."

Renna raised an eyebrow, but looked around none the less. The other eyebrow raised and she smiled. "If that's how you want it Mirra. Sera, just Short Circuit it."

Once again the ice became riddled with lime green passages, and then began to flake away and dissolve. And as it disappeared from under the gazelle bit, the weakened blade, having no slick ice to aid its momentum, promptly slowed, and then stopped entirely.

For a moment there was silence.

"The…THE WHITE TIGERS HAVE WON IT!"

* * *

"We have to have a plan of attack." Nodded Tyson, pacing in front of the group. "It's the finals! You don't just walk in unprepared to the finals!"

"Actually Tyson, the BladeBreakers don't walk unprepared into any fight." Interjected Kenny lightly.

"A plan of attack!" Continued Tyson unfazed, turning to the group and driving the fist of his right hand into the palm of his left. "A strategy. A-"

"Tyson, sit down." Lips pursed and brows furrowed Kai stared, until, with a sigh and a pout, Tyson took his seat. "Kenny? If you would."

"Right," Chuckled the small boy. "I hardly imaging you've overlooked it, but the White Tigers are strong. Much stronger than they've ever been before. And those girls! They were an unbelievable pair. We have some strong pairs in our arsenal, Kai and Tyson, and Tyson and Hilary now with their similar bit beasts, but nothing like that. So, it goes without saying that a doubles match is something we want to avoid if at all possible in the finals. We'll suggest a battle royal but we'll probably have to flip for it."

"Even if we get the Battle Royal it'll make no difference," mumbled Kaoru, chewing on her lip, "Mirra and Renna will just group together and fight…only difference is they'll have the support of their friends."

Kenny blinked, then nodded. "That's a good point. In any case, we have to face the fact that we'll probably lose that match." Kai growled. "It just means we'll have to win the other two!"

"Will you be wanting to fight Ray?" Asked Kai suddenly. "They're your friends right?"

The boy hesitated, but then nodded.

"Fine. We'll request a battle royal and if we win the toss we'll split into our pairs and attack like that. If we lose the toss they'll more than likely put up Mirra and Renna. In that case, Tyson and I will fight. That's our best chance."

Tyson, shocked at the kind-of-compliment, managed a shaky nod before the plans moved onward.

"Then they'll probably send out Lee and Mariah. Ray, I want you to fight Lee, Hilary, you fight Mariah, and beat her! Understand. Tyson and I might lose the first round, so you must win!"

"Y…yes." Whispered the girl, but her eyes betrayed her nerves and Kai sighed.

"I'm sorry. I know you'll do your best, you too Ray." The boy nodded. "Don't stress yourselves. We're all surprised how strong they are, we can only do what we can do."

"Why aren't I fighting?" Demanded Kaoru, interrupting what was probably the longest, kindest thing Kai had ever said to his team.

"Because I decided you weren't." Stated the boy coldly, "Neither is Max. There are only so many spots, and this works best."

"I could beat Mariah!" Insisted the girl.

"I don't think you could."

"…What?"

"…We fought once Kaoru and you were certainly not the strongest blader I'd ever come across. The second time we battled you withdrew and though you beat me in the obstacle course and, I will admit, you bitbeast is impressive, this says nothing about your strength in battle. Tyson says you've never beaten him, Hilary has never fought you and you won't let anyone examine your blade. What do you expect of me?"

"I…I am confident that I can beat Mariah."

"I'm not."

"Then trust me!"

He gave her a hard look that made her cower. It said something along the lines of 'you know it's not fair to use that on me,' and it made her feel guilty. "Hilary was trained by Tyson and I trust his methods. She fought Max and drew with him. Isn't she good enough?"

Kaoru glared, returning her own 'how dare you ask me to insult my friends strength' guilt trip. "Of course she's good enough! But she has less experience than me, and _I _know she's not as strong. And look! She's scared! She doesn't want to fight Mariah when there's so much at stake."

"_You are not fighting Kaoru!_"

She started, eyes wide. What was that? He was…worried?

"You're not good enough! You'll lose! I am your captain and you'll do as I say without question and certainly without argument!"

Any surprise or suspicion vanished and she stood, offended and hurt and stalked out of the room at once.

All to late her words of only yesterday rang in his mind - _'If you hurt me, I'll cry and make you feel really guilty'_ or get angry, silent and ignore you, it seemed. He sighed.

"Kai…" The quiet voice surprised him and he looked away from where Kaoru had disappeared to find Hilary looking up at him, suspicious.

"Why did you do that?" Asked Max.

"I am her captain," Kai growled again, "She had no right. And it was true, she's not good enough."

"No, I mean why didn't you let her fight."

The older boy blinked. "Because…she's not…good enough. I just explained this to her! Will you make me do it again?"

"You're lying. Kaoru's much better than me and you know it." Hilary stated, eyes stubborn.

"There's another reason. What is it?" Asked Tyson carefully.

"There...there is no other reason. Don't be stupid."

Ray sighed. "He's right. He's our captain, and we have to accept his choice. But you should apologize to Kaoru, Kai. You just called her weak in front of her whole team, even though we know it's not true, I'm sure she's feeling really embarrassed, especially because she considers you a friend."

_And I, her._ His mind filled in immediately, remembering their contract of yesterday and then realising with dismay how much worse that made it.

"Yeh. You should apologize Kai, though she's not likely to forgive you anytime soon."

The older boy looked away, and then remembered something else from the day previous, '_If you hurt me I'll cry and make you feel really guilty __**until you apologise**_.' And then she'd said, '_even if you should betray me or…or hurt me…I'll still forgive you. And I'll welcome you back with open arms.'_

"You're right." Kai nodded all of a sudden and looked back at them, determined. "I should go apologize."

Five jaws hit the ground with an audible smack and Kai left them for his bedroom, so as to jump the balcony, for she had surely locked her door.

* * *

HAHAHAHAH!! DONNEEEE!! Oh, I could just die of happiness! XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

A/n's -

- Freezing Point - GET IT! GET IT! Lol! No, it's not really that funny. It's just, you know? Freezing point as in when water freezes? And it's the point of the gazelle's horn? And it's frozen? Hey? Hey? Get it? Freezing Point? ¬¬ Gonna shut up now.

Lol. And sadly that's all. I've gone a bit slack on A/n's recently. I used to do them for any and everything that would be a bit wtf but now I only do them rarely, and even for stupid things like above. So if I've missed something you didn't understand then just let me know and I'll explain for ya.

Anyho! Next chapter will be a bit more exciting cause it'll be the finals and, well, let's just say I've got a few surprises up my sleeve.

Until then, my beloved readers, adieu.

Oh. And reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thank ya!


	10. Promise Me

IT LIVES!! Bwahahaha! ¬ ¬

Yes, I know. It's been a long long long time, but you must be used to that by now ne? DMA still lives, it grows slowly but it lives. So if you're still with us and you haven't completely given up on this fic stick around cause the next chapter will be out…eventually XDD.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last time and again I'm so sorry this has taken so long but I've done my best and here it is so please enjoy!

* * *

**Promise Me.**

Kaoru was not on the balcony, which was an immediate set back to the plan. Well, plan A, anyway.

It_ had_ been a bit wishful though. Kai sighed, and then leaned back against his own balcony to work out the kinks in plan B. Plan A had comprised basically of Kaoru having sought fresh air and ventured out to her balcony - conveniently beside his own - and a brief apology across the airspace, significantly romantic enough (he'd thought Romeo and Juliet) for her to over look the need for any further argument on the previously discussed matter and…well it had been very wishful.

Plan B was a good deal more realistic, and as such quite a bit more difficult. It involved jumping over to her balcony, entering her room by force and apologising loudly and firmly while asserting that he did not plan to change his mind about her participation in the upcoming match but that he didn't like her being angry at him and could she please go back to liking him. And then if that failed reminding her of her promise the day previous to forgive him if he ever hurt her and her promise never to lie and then, basically, heaping on the guilt.

Plan C meant seeking Tyson's help and it was not a plan that Kai was going to consider if it were at _all_ possible for plan B to succeed. And he fully intended to make it.

Only he hadn't quite realised the distance between his and Kaoru's balconies was so great. Nor had he counted on her balcony door being close and presumably locked. Thusly - 'kinks'.

"Kai?" The voice was worried and amused and Kai opened his eyes to find Ray staring at him with a mixture those same emotions.

"What?"

The black haired boy came to stand beside Kai on the balcony. "Worried." He admitted, "You've never really felt the need to say sorry before as far as I know, and yet all of a sudden-" he made a gesture with his hand toward Kaoru's room.

Kai grunted.

"Different?" asked the other and Kai looked at him in surprise. Then slowly he nodded.

"Yes. It's different."

Ray chuckled. "Thought so." And he smiled, "I get the feeling that she's not terribly inclined to admit her wrongs either, but that she too would apologise…if it were to you."

Kai looked at him for a long moment and then nodded again.

"I can't say I get it entirely…respect maybe?" Ray shrugged and smiled at his friend. Kai smiled a little back.

"Something like that." He affirmed.

"Then you'll apologise to her?" He asked.

"Yes. As soon as I work out how to get across to her balcony."

"Ah." The black haired boy saw the problem at once and nodded knowingly then disappeared.

Kai gave a low growl, hating to be left out of the loop.

Ray appeared again almost at once carrying with him what looked like a draw, only about twice as big as Kai's own and twice as deep.

"From Kenny's room!" Ray said with a grin, "Huge huh? He was saying he wanted to get some just as big for his workroom back in Japan." He stood the colossal thing up against the doorway and drew in a great breath. "Heavy but."

Kai gave the thing a horrified look, "You want me to climb across _that_?"

"Better ideas?"

Kai had none and so they set the draw, base side up between the two balconies. The wood was sturdy and the draw was more than long enough to balance safely but it still looked a little scary there, suspended above such a great fall.

Both boys were silent with thought for a long moment before Kai insisted they get along with it. But the draw towered too high above Kai for him to jump up onto it safely and so he had to degrade himself further by accepting a leg lift from Ray.

The result was a wavering, unsteady, and none to graceful crawl across the great expanse of draw. Kai felt silly and awkward and he knew Ray was looking at him with a smirk that barley concealed laughter. But then he was there and he managed by some miracle to retain a little grace as he jumped down and landed lightly on his feet.

Then Kai stood for a moment. He knew it was the right thing to do, but Ray was right. Apologising and admitting his wrongs was something Kai despised doing, no matter who it concerned. He looked back at Ray.

"Going?"

"Yep."

"I'm not keeping you Kai."

"What if her doors locked?" He was buying for time and he was angry at himself for it, but the thought of facing Kaoru's wrath kept him steadfast on the tile he had landed.

"What if it's not?"

The logic was annoying. Kai looked at his friend, and Ray stared back unflinchingly. "Go back to the lounge and get them some desert then." Kai sighed finally and Ray smiled.

"Aye Aye Capitan!" And he left at once.

Together with Ray Kai had put up a front of confidence and sureness, alone he felt silly and awkward and not just a little bit anxious.

What if Kaoru was really really angry? She could scream and yell at him and stamp out of her bedroom and he would look like the biggest fool. Or what if she had been really hurt and was crying? He wouldn't know how to handle that at all. Not if it was because of what he'd said. Or maybe she'd act like nothing had happened, just like Tala always had, the indifference that was so many times worst than the anger and the tears.

He groaned and it was at than moment, slouched and frustrated at himself, that he noticed that the catch in her door was very much open.

There was a moment of stillness and decision then he crossed the remaining three steps to her door and slid it open confidently.

Kaoru was neither angry nor crying as far as he could tell. She was lying on her bed facing upwards and staring rather intently at the ceiling. It was hot that evening so she'd put on a light nightgown instead of her normal Pj's. This one was a pretty clear blue, the sort of colour that lightning is and it settled gently on her skin, reflecting the light softly off its loose ruffles. Her hair was up and lay beneath and behind her. She turned slowly to look at him.

"Hi." He tried, and then wanted to smack himself.

"Hi." She returned and he blinked.

"Can I come in?" it was the next logical step after all.

She raised an eyebrow and it took a moment for him to realise that her eyes were on his feet where they already stood very much inside.

"Oh."

"You can come in." She assured him, so he took another step and then looked back at her.

Her eyes were calm blue and he was suddenly horrified that he'd been right and she really was going to pretend as if nothing had happened.

"So did you want something?" she asked coolly, and he was relieved to hear the slight edge in her voice that told him she was actually still very pissed.

"I wanted to apologise."

She seemed surprised at first, eyes wide and blinking. Then she composed herself and sat up and nodded.

"You said, 'If you hurt me I'll get angry and cry and make you feel really guilty until you apologise.' So I'm apologising. Will you stop being angry now?"

She thought about it, and finally said "On one condition."

"I thought the condition was our friendship." He replied smoothly.

She cracked a smile at that. "It was." She said, "But a friend would let a friend battle if they really wanted to and if they could promise to win and I can. Since you can't do that I've temporarily demoted you."

"If your condition is you being allowed to blade I won't do it." He said defiantly.

"It's not that." She assured him to his surprise.

"And if I do it then I'll be reinstated as 'friend'?"

She nodded. "That's how it works."

He gave her a cautious look but nodded all the same. "What's the condition then?"

"Tell me why you won't let me blade. Truthfully this time. None of this 'you're not good enough' bull."

He stood still for a minute weighing the possibilities. "What if that was the truth? What if I don't think your good enough?"

"You know I'm good enough and I know you do, I won't take that as an answer. Try again."

He frowned a little. "What if I was just very stupid?" She smiled again.

What was the real reason he'd forbidden her from blading? Even he wasn't sure. It had been this feeling - unshakable. But why the feeling?

He'd thought of her blading and losing and then the BladeBreakers losing the championship and her blaming herself and leaving and he found he couldn't stomach it. It would mean he was the reason she left. And then he'd thought of Tyson who had only just been reunited with his best friend. Tyson, who Kai had been getting on a little better with and who was blading better than ever because, as far as Kai could tell, he was happier. And Hilary who had learned to blade from Kaoru and Tyson and who clearly was benefiting from the other girls presence and he'd wondered what she'd do if Kaoru left, as Kai felt sure she would if she felt she'd lost the finals for them.

And then a worse thought had occurred. What if she was injured in the match? Blading was dangerous, as he well knew. His mind had brought back images of his many battles with Tyson, Tala, all the biovolt battles and so many more that had left him so much the worse for ware. And it would be his fault for putting her up there. Only his fault.

But he'd put her up to blade before, he told himself, why should it be different? It was because he was her friend and that meant certain protectiveness. More than that it meant a promise. 'I'll never let anyone hurt you.' The words he had said and meant fully and refused to break. What if he put her up there to blade, and what if, because of his decision, she was hurt, or badly injured. No. He couldn't do it. He'd known how much she wanted to battle but he found that no matter how much he told himself that he just couldn't put her in harms way.

It was like Tala. She was like Tala. Wanting foolishly to follow him into danger when she could so easily just sit and wait. Just like the boy had followed him to biovolt and had been so badly hurt. Kai couldn't bear to do that to another person. He was so horribly afraid.

"I…am worried." He admitted quietly. "If you get hurt it'll be my fault and I'll have broken my promise."

She was puzzled. "What promise?"

"I said I'd never let anyone hurt you."

"Why do you think I'll be hurt?" Now she was truly concerned, not for herself, but for him. Why would he be so worried about a beybattle? She had bladed for the team many times before.

"A finals match is different," he read her mind, "it's all or nothing and it's very dangerous."

She gave him a hard look, a sort of half glare. "I'm no wimp Kai, and I'm not a baby, I can handle myself."

"It's not about being brave, it's about being smart and…and being careful and not doing something stupid."

She grinned, "Confusing me with Tyson?"

He smiled too, "No. But I'm serious Kaoru, these kind of matches are hard. People do anything. I've never some unscathed out of a finals battle."

She sighed and looked away because he'd obviously gotten this notion of danger well established by then. After a moment she looked back at him seriously. "I know it's dangerous, and I know you don't want anyone to hurt me, I understand. I really do Kai, believe me. But it's because we're friends isn't it? You're letting the others blade just like normal."

He looked away, embarrassed, but nodded.

"Then please. Because we're friends do me a favour, and say I can blade." He opened his mouth to complain but she beat him to it, "I know it's scary, I get terrified every time Tyson comes home twenty minutes after he says he will, but you've got to realise Kai, you must, that someday _someone _will hurt me, somehow."

He looked at her and knew she was right.

"I'd really liked to battle Renna," she admitted to his horror, "but that's a bit much to ask isn't it?" She smiled as he nodded furiously, "So I'll only ask to battle Mariah. I know I can win Kai."

He was silent and unsure. It felt like he was being wedged between two slabs of very hard, very thick rock. One meant Kaoru's safety, but her unhappiness, and the other meant danger, but smiles. It was one of those situations where the pros and cons were balanced perfectly and the only solution was to jump haphazardly at one or the other and hope you'd done the right thing. "You know you'll win?"

"I promise."

He bit his lip, but nodded. And then he walked quickly to her door, which had indeed been locked, unlocked it and then opened it. The others where still sitting around the table, now eating desert. They looked up at him at once, only mildly surprised that he'd come from Kaoru's room.

"Hilary, can you promise you'll beat Mariah?"

The girl was quite, and then she shook her head. He nodded again. "Well then-"

Kaoru came sliding out of her bedroom, socks slipping on floorboards and she spun round the corner to face him. "I can blade?!" She was grinning.

"Promise me you'll win."

"I promise!" She exclaimed at once, smile still threatening to split the sides of her face.

Then he said in a much quieter voice, "Promise me you won't get hurt."

Her smile softened. "I promise."

"Fine then." He spat, suddenly angry for having been so undermined and pretty much conned into the decision. But then she was around his neck with another massive smile pressed into his cheek and the anger fizzled up and dried.

A second passed. A second of a warm soft body, a smile pressed against him, a wisp of black hair tickling his nose, a finger brushing accidentally upon an area of exposed flesh. Then she was gone, warmth, smile, touch.

The bounced over to the table making happy noises about how good desert looked and how hungry she still was, but Kai saw nothing of it. He stood outside her door still, fighting with himself to not call her back into another hug immediately.

* * *

Kaoru lay awake for a long time and talked to Aura in her mind. Even though she was very sure of herself and her ability to win against Mariah, Kaoru had never been quite so nervous before a battle.

The angle had adopted her true form, as she normally did within the sanctuary of Kaoru's head, and sat in a corner of it quietly listening.

"I think we should put on a bit of a show Aura. They've never really seen what we can do, I mean they have, but not our best moves. I don't think we'll really need them against Mariah, but I'd like them to see that they can depend on us. Wouldn't you?"

Aura shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me either way."

"But don't you want them to know how strong you are?"

"I suppose. I'll just fight and win. Is that ok?"

"What if we don't win?"

"We will." She seemed certain enough and Kaoru drew confidence from her, "You promised porcupine so we will."

"Thanks…" Kaoru whispered, a little surprised at her bit beasts' consideration for such a promise, and smiled. "We'll use Faith Spell first and increase our power, a little less magnificently than usual though I think. No need to scream it." The angel nodded. "Then go for the kill ok. No mucking around. Use the spirit bow."

The angel raised an eyebrow. "The spirit bow? Don't you think that's a little extreme for such an opponent?"

"Yes. But I want to prove myself, I want them to know we really are very strong."

The other girl inclined her head. "Ok then. Just give me the word."

"But…"

"But?"

"It's just…you can't always predict how a battle will play out. What happens if it's not enough? What happens if she dodges it or -"

"Impossible. Kaoru, you're thinking too much about this. The spirit bow will be more than enough."

"What if it isn't? You'll be worn out after using it."

"Worn out perhaps but not out of power. We'll never be out of power Kaoru, you never have to worry about that, there's always more and if it comes to that we can always use -"

"No." Her voice was louder than it needed to be, and echoed of the walls of her mind. "It won't come to that."

There was such stubbornness and conviction in her eyes. Her need to believe the lie was painfully obvious so Aura nodded.

"Of course not."

"Thank you."

"Whatever.

Kaoru frowned. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine. You seem odd. You're willing to do your best to help me keep a promise but not at all concerned how we keep it. Are you happy to let me just order you around in tomorrows match? And then to brush off my thanks so casually. It's not like you."

Aura lifted her head and her red eyes focused on Kaoru's blue ones. "I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me. I worry about you you know, so you have to tell me if something's wrong."

The red eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why? Can't you tell anyway?"

Kaoru was quiet.

"We know each other too well Kaoru, always. Don't you lie to me. Don't you tell me you don't know exactly what's wrong, down to the tiniest detail!" Her tone was bitingly cold and the blue-eyed girl looked away, ashamed.

"Of course I know." She agreed, "Always. But I'd like for you to tell me sometimes."

The angel snorted.

"You're annoyed because Kai and I are becoming closer."

"Not annoyed. Worried, afraid."

Kaoru shook her head, "Silly. You really needn't be."

"Oh?"

"So Kai and I are friends now? Ray is my friend and Max and Kenny and Hilary and Tyson and so many others, Aura, honestly. What makes this one different? Is it because he's good looking? Maybe you're worried because you like him ne?"

The angel gave her a flat look and Kaoru laughed. "Or maybe it's because you hounded him with the fan group for 3 years." Spat Aura, disgusted. Kaoru quietened instantly.

"Don't talk about that ok."

"You think they'll hear me do you?" Scoffed the girl.

Kaoru didn't answer. Her mind was on Kai and his eagerness to adhere to her condition and be her friend again. _Wanting _to be her friend. Something she'd only dreamed of in those long three years with the fan girls. They had always talked about it in depth. Knowing him, talking with him, and ultimately being his friend.

And now that she was…the thought of telling him…what would he do? Would he still like her at all? She couldn't face such a question.

* * *

The mood in the crowds was excited, anxious and bright. The sun was shining; it was a great day for a beyblading finale!

The mood in the Bladebreakers preparations room was dark, oppressive and anxious.

Tyson and Max were speaking quietly with Kenny over the top of a toolbox, discussing the various ways to harness the power of their blades while he did a once over.

Hilary was packing and repacking her bag of sandwiches. She'd made them to be useful, she'd said, since she wasn't blading. But Kai had shaken his head and told her to be prepared for anything. They'd planed for what they could anticipate but plans might need changing if anticipations turned out to be wrong, and now she was horribly nervous.

Kai himself sat on the couch, frowning into space. Ray had said he had woken up a few times the previous night to find Kai also up and either at the window or staring at the ceiling. He obviously hadn't slept. He was worried and for the first time felt unprepared. And then there was the nervous thought of Kaoru battling.

Kaoru sat against a wall, blade in hand, and conversing, sometimes internally and sometimes mistakenly out loud, with her bitbeast. Her lips would purse in annoyance and then she would roll her eyes or her eyebrows would raise or scrunch together depending on how the conversation went. A few times she scoffed and once hissed potently "oh, for Christ sake." For almost a minute she spoke out loud with herself. "If that's really how you feel then I'll just tell you what I want you to do and nothing more. You'll be my servant." "Of course not but you're being difficult." "It makes no difference! It's just the same as before only now it's titled." "I'm not going to talk about this today Aura, we're about to go into a really important battle and it would be nice to talk about that." "Argh! I can't believe you sometimes!" Then she sat in sulky silence.

Ray was the only bladebreaker happy with the arrangements. He stood at the door practically bouncing, overly eager to have a good fight with his friends.

The intercom buzzed and Kai answered immediately. Through the speaker Mr. Dickenson told them to be ready at the stadium entrance in a matter of minutes, and indeed the noise from the crowds was becoming louder.

The intercom crackled and then hissed gently into silence. For a moment no one said anything, then Kaoru stood and took Kai's hand and pulled him up the wings after her.

His mouth moved to protest but the notion vanished almost as soon as it had come. His hand felt good in hers, he realised. Warm and protected.

When they'd made it to the entrance to the stadium Kaoru let him go. The others were a little ways behind and she turned to him and whispered, "I will win, no matter what. I promise."

It took him a moment to process her words as the warm feeling of her hand slowly seeped away from his, but finally he nodded and said, "I know. I trust you."

The others were beside them in a matter of moments and Kai turned to them. They were all looking at him expectantly and he felt as though he was meant to say something.

"The BladeBreakers have won the championship every year since the came into existence." He began quietly, because it was the truth. "And maybe they'll win again, and maybe they won't. We've done enough, and now we'll go and fight. And the outcome doesn't matter."

They gaped at him in an awed kind of fear, as if he had just begun to glow a holy light and revealed himself, with utter seriousness, to be an angel sent to save them.

The look disturbed him so he added quickly, "I don't think I should have left the bladebreakers all those years ago. I think it was a mistake." And before the effect of those words could be observed, DJ Jazzman announced the battle and Kai turned and walked on stage.

The crowds erupted but a second later Kai realised it was not just for the bladebreakers that they were screaming but also for the white tigers. And it was surprisingly even.

With his team in toe, Kai made his way up to the closed beydish where their opponents were assembling beside Jazzman.

"This match will comprise of three games. Two singles games and a special game, either battle royal or double! A preference as to the special game bladebreakers?"

"Battle Royal." Answered Kai and Lee sent him a smirk that said he'd known Kai would say this, and he certainly also knew why. Kai growled.

"Tigers?"

"Double." Said Lee certainly.

"A toss then!" Exclaimed Jazzman and produced an odd shaped coin that somewhat resembled a bit chip. "Head or tails camps?"

"Heads." Said Kai firmly and DJ Jazzman sent the thing spinning. It came down tails.

"And the first match will be a double! Captains! Pick you bladers!"

Lee was smirking and Kai felt like the one fishing lines worth of thread holding him up had broken. Lee took a step forward and opened his mouth.

"Mirra and I will blade."

The stadium was quiet for a moment, and then erupted into sound.

"What's this?" Asked Brad Best from the commentators box, "Has Lee lost his mind!"

"Renna is his trump card!" Agreed AJ Topper over the immense noise the crowd was making, "This could be a costly mistake for the White Tigers!"

Kai was in shock, desperately running and re-running everything he knew about Lee's team and trying to come up with a reason for the illogical decision but there seemed to be none.

He had to recalculating his tactics. Renna was no longer blading in the double, that meant she was blading elsewhere. It was Tyson or him that would have to face her, they were the only ones who could win! Maybe. But that meant…

He frowned deeply, hating that he had to so haphazardly redo his plans and hating that Lee was smirking as if to say - 'I know. Doesn't it suck?' - and hating how Jazzman was looking so impatient waiting for a decision.

"Tyson and Hilary will blade in this match." He said with what he hoped came out as confidence.

Hilary gave a squeak but Tyson nodded, in a serious way that made Kai think he might actually understand the logic behind the decision.

He turned then, with out so much as a word to his team mates, confidently, as if he'd planed it this way from the start, and walked to the sideline benches. He sat and crossed his arms. Max sat on his left side, Hilary's sandwiches in his hands and Kaoru sat on his other, confused and worried but hiding it well.

"Bladers step up!"

"All I can say is, I hope Lee has one heck of a plan! Tyson and Hilary are a powerful team Brad!"

"Right you are AJ! But lately the captains' judgment has been spot on hasn't it? I'm intrigued to see how they do!"

"Ready?"

Mirra smiled and pulled out her pink and yellow blade. Lee, beside her, nodded. Tyson sent Hilary a grin, which she returned shyly and then nodded to Jazzman as well.

"Then, 3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!"

* * *

"Amazing AJ! Who'd have thought?"

"Never me Brad, never me. What an upset!"

"Lee sure went into the game with a plan didn't he? Grown up I'd say."

AJ gave a sob, "Does me proud!" He cooed.

"Let's recap the match as the bladers prepare for the next one, shall we?!"

"2-1 to the White Tigers, a huge upset! All bets were on the BladeBreakers for this one, currant world champions and with a team like Tyson and Hilary!"

"I hear ya AJ! My bets were on the BladeBreakers for sure but Lee just knew what he was doing. Really impressive."

In the preparation room the BladeBreakers also discussed the previous battle.

"It was so close," whined Max, a worry line creasing the skin between his eyebrows, "I really thought you guys had it."

"Lee's really matured," added Ray, eyes closed and nodding as if pondering it to himself, "Every move, everything, calculated."

Kai sighed, "He must have practiced a lot, Lee and his team. A lot more than us, they're determined. They'd studied our moves, they knew our weaknesses, they knew us. Our characters, Tyson easily provoked," the boy hung his head, "Hilary, nervous and overwhelmed. They were ready."

The group was silent.

"Ray. You will fight next, against Mariah, who I'm sure they'll send. They'll know your weaknesses too so be ready, don't let them take you for a ride." Ray nodded. "Mariah is you friend, I know, and you may wish to believe she'd never play you but it's more than likely that that trusting nature is number one on the list of your weaknesses." The boy frowned, "Do not let it be."

A moment passed and Ray nodded solemnly. "I won't."

Kai stood and left the room through a door that lead to a drink machine. "And also Ray," he called from out of site, "whatever your relationship is with Mariah, don't let it effect your blading. I know you're better than that."

* * *

"The BladeBreakers send Ray," announced Jazzman excitedly, "And from the White Tigers…" he waited for confirmation, "Mariah!" The crowds roared.

"It's the second time these two have battled against each other in the tournament isn't it AJ?"

"Sure is Brad. And who can forget that first time? Love was in the air."

"And the ratings! Through the roof!"

"No doubt we're in for a similar display of romantic, blading prowess, ay Brad?"

"Let's hope AJ. Let's hope."

Ray scowled as he stepped up to the blading dish. Love was in the air? He remembered that first battle, not so much for the splendour of it, but for the weeks upon weeks of speculation in gossip magazines about his relationship with Mariah. It didn't help either, that Kai had brought up the very same issue not minutes before.

Mariah stepped up across from him. She was frowning to, a light blush colouring her cheeks. He smiled.

"Ready to demonstrate your Romantic Blading Prowess Mariah?" He asked jokingly.

She smiled too. "Yeh, ratings through the roof huh. Wow." And then she laughed. "It's like we not even here isn't it?"

Ray chuckled, and because of the microphones attached to the collars of their shirts, the exchange was carried through the stadium.

There was a rather audible silence from the commentators box.

"Ready to begin?" Asked DJ Jazzman and the bladers smiled and nodded.

"RIGHT THEN! BLADERS READY! 3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!"

The blades hit the sandy banks of the island replica bey dish, Mariah's swerving to avoid the dangerous water that lay to either side.

Because the previous doubles match had taken such a long time to decide, and because the next would probably take similarly as long, Mr Dickenson had suggested that this match last only one round. Both teams had accepted; somewhat unwillingly, but neither wanted to be out done by the other.

It meant that this match was now life or death for the bladebreakers. Ray had to win in order for them to even advance to the next round, let alone to the next tournament. However, despite this fact, Ray felt no pressure. He was having fun, just like the match with Mariah in their first tournament that had got the tabloids raving, just like when they were kids, blading together in the hills surrounding their village.

A great crumbling, static sound filled the stadium. Ray looked up with a start to where Mariah stood across from him smiling and holding her crushed microphone. There was silence now.

"Mariah…" He whispered, but the sound still carried and filled the enormous space, "what are you - "

"I want to speak with you Ray." There was a pouty smile on her lips and a determined look in her eyes. "In private." And her voice, unlike his, remained a secret between them.

Confused but, perhaps foolishly, trusting, he nodded, took his microphone between two fingers, and deftly crushed it.

In the back of his mind he heard the announcers comment loudly about his actions, but Mariah was also speaking and her words were of greater value to him.

"It's always happening Ray."

He blinked. "What is?"

"People think we're together." She blushed. "Or that we like each other. Reporters always ask me about it, even in press conferences people ask me how you're going."

"Oh." He mumbled and nodded a little pink himself now.

"So I wanna know Ray. What's the deal? Do you like me?"

"What! No!..That is…do you like me?" He was very red now, and aware that all the cameras were catching this fact with ease, and posting it up around the arena for the spectators, his teams', and his old friends' viewing pleasure.

Mariah smiled. "As a friend Ray, you know I love you. But romantically?" She looked away then, as if ashamed. "No. I don't think I ever could." Then suddenly, with a flash of bright pink hair, her head snapped back to face him. "Not that I don't find you attractive Ray!" She was not the tomato red that he was, but her cheeks had certainly taken a health pink glow, "I do! You…you're gorgeous, of course. One of the most handsome boys I've met."

By this stage both had achieved similar facial colouring and sported similarly embarrassed expressions. Excited announcements could be heard all the time in the background, forever speculating exactly what was being said among the pair, and the wild ideas only served to further embarrass them.

"It's just…we've always been friends. Almost like siblings don't you thing?" She looked to him hopefully. "I just don't know…that I could be together with my older brother in a romantic way. Right?"

When a long moment had passed and he was sure she was finished, Ray smiled. And then laughed, happily.

"Thank goodness Mariah! I was so afraid I was gonna have to turn you down and then fight an angry rejected girl in a bey match that I couldn't afford to lose and I just…really wasn't looking forward to that!" He laughed again.

"So…" She blinked. "You don't like me then?"

"Oh! As a friend of course! But it's just like you said, we're siblings! I want to be the one that give your boyfriend a hard time, not the one who's your boyfriend!"

She was quiet for a moment and then smiled. "I'm going to take that as a compliment Ray. I'll just have to try extra hard now to get a boy friend so you can harass him."

They smiled at each other companionable for a minute and then Mariah gasped. Ray smirked.

"Come on Mariah. Think a little better of me than that won't you?"

Her blade was stopped in its tracks, pressed against the miniature palm tree of the island replica dish, from where it had been trying to launch a sneak attack.

"Whoa AJ! Sneak attack from Mariah!"

"But not sneaky enough Brad. Ray's got her pinned!"

Rays eyes were dark as he looked at her. "Kai told me you would try to exploit my trust. I didn't want to believe him, but he told me to be careful, and because he is my captain I have to obey him."

Mariah's eyes swelled sadly, as she looked from her useless blade back up to Ray's face. "I'm sorry."

"I don't blame you. I know these battles are hard; you have to do everything you can to win. Strategy, knowledge, they're criteria, I understand that but I wish…you'd chosen a different distraction." He looked away from her.

"N…No Ray! I meant what I said! Every word! I love you, you're my family, my brother…I meant it. I really did."

He looked at her, holding her eyes with his own for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"Drigger. Tiger Claw."

With one swipe her blade was whisked from sand and into the water where it floundered for a moment before sinking and coming to a soggy holt.

"Knowledge." He said quietly as the pink haired girl fell slowly to the ground, "Of your opponent Mariah, but also of yourself." She looked up at him. "You must know yourself too, your weaknesses certainly, so that you can avoid them being targeted but also, more importantly, you must know your strengths. I know you're not the type of person who plays these types of tricks Mariah, so I'll forgive you, but you should have known that enough to not have done it at all."

She nodded slowly, eyes glistening with stubborn tears.

"And Strategy." He continued. "A sneak attack is not a bad idea, but it leaves you open. The better strategy was mine today, to simply wait, and take the moment to give you a push towards the water."

He smiled then. "The next time we fight, I hope the circumstances will be different."

And with that he turned and walked back to his team.

Amidst the cheers of spectators and the excited, speculation of the announcers, stood the BladeBreakers. They were waiting for him, smiling.

When he reached them he stoped, removed the second, hidden microphone that Kenny had clipped to his bandana and stowed it in his hip pocket.

"Well said." Commented Kai, breaking the comfortable silence as Kenny saved the audio file of the fight onto Dizzy, "It was the better strategy." He stepped forward and, almost companionably, put a hand on his team mates' shoulder. "And it was the better blader." Kai smiled.

For a moment Ray was shocked by the show of friendship from the usually stoic blader, but then he grinned.

Though he'd never had the experience he imagined that this must be what it felt like to come home from a war. Suddenly, instead of being surrounded by the people who were doing their best to bring him down, he was instead with the people who protected him, cared for him, and wanted him to do well. It was like the weight of the world being lifted.

With a laugh he flashed them a thumbs up and that was all the encouragement the others needed to jump on him in a barrage of hugs, noogies, back pats and, from the girls, cheek kisses.

It took Ray only a moment to notice, through the blanket of team mates he was wearing, that his feelings for the BladeBreakers were not all together different from his feelings for the White Tigers. The BladeBreakers were his family too, but a different kind of family.

The White Tigers he had grown up together with, they were his brothers, sisters and cousins. The BladeBreakers were his family because he had made the decision that they were. Because he loved them and trusted them and for no other reason.

Did that mean, he wondered, as the others began to untangle themselves, that he was married to the BladeBreakers?

The thought brought forth such uncontrollable laughter that, though confused, the others couldn't help but join in, and the happy sound echoed of the walls of the walkway as they made their way back to the preparations room.

* * *

Five minutes later and the topic of Ray's battle had been exhausted. Teasing and laughing his team mates had poked good-natured fun at him while they sat around on the beige leather sofas and drank coke but now the issue turned to the upcoming match.

"I can't…believe it's come down to this…" Chuckled Tyson, but the sound was humourless. "If we don't win the next match…"

"We've been in situations like this before." Kai reminded them. "We always come out on top somehow. One of our strengths is being able to get ourselves out of tight situations."

"We've done it before," agreed Max, "but never against someone like Renna." He shook his head. "She's too much, I couldn't even fathom beating her."

"At least she's without her team-mate."

"That could be worse. Some bladers battle even better in singles."

There was a slow and heavy silence.

"Let me fight her."

All eyes turned to Kaoru as her usually quiet voice disturbed the stillness.

"I know I only asked to fight Mariah, but Ray fought her, and I understand that he had to do that so you'd be able to take on Renna, and I know you think she's gonna be impossible to beat as it is but I stand by what I said before. I promised you I'd win and I won't take it back now either. Against Mariah or against Renna, I'll fight and win for the bladebreakers."

Kai looked at her for a long moment, and frowned. "Kaoru, it's not as simple as a promise -"

"I know that." She cut him off, "And I know it's selfish but I want to fight her. I feel like you guys can't rely on me at all and I want to show you that you can! I'm stronger than you think I am. There are things you don't know about me, and that's why you just have to trust me. Trust me when I say I can do it! I will do it! Let me prove I'm worthy of being a bladebreaker!"

Silence was their first response, broken only by the announcement "five minutes til round three".

"I will beat her." Said Kaoru again, standing up and facing them, determined. "Beyond a shadow of a doubt, no matter what it takes, I promise you Kai…I will beat her."

* * *

And le done.

Zomg. Will Kaoru get to blade? Will she be able to beat Renna if she does? And just what makes her so sure of her ability to win anyway?

-sigh- We're finally getting to the end of the first round of the tournament. Next chapter will be the deciding match, which I've been looking forward to writing forEVER! Squee! Can't wait! And then there'll be some KaiKaoru for those of us who've been waiting on that

I'm really excited that this part of the story is coming to a close cause the next one will be all fresh and shiny and, I happen to know, fluffy. There's going to be a lot more serious KaoruxKai development, some new characters, old loves, jealously, fangirls so on and so forth XDDD

**IMPORTANT! **There were no A/ns for this chapter so please let me know if there was anything you didn't understand and i'll do my best to clear it up. **ALSO **with the next part of the story more devoted to KaixKaoruness I just wanted to know if anyone has any fluffy moments they'd like ot see between the two. There's heaps of space for romance in the next part so let me know and I'm sure I can stuff it in there somewhere. The more the merrier!

SO please send a review, even if just to say, "cool, I liked it" or whatever. Reviews make me inspired to write so….more reviews - more inspiration - more writing! Lol. And I'll give you a Ray plushie if you do! WOOT!

Soi


	11. The Fight For A Tournament And A Promise

Kaoru watched as crimson eyes darted from her own blue ones, to the floor, then to the side, and then back to hers again

Oh-ho! What's this? An update in under 6 months! Shock, horror!

¬ ¬ Seriously, I know I've been horrible with updating this story, but I still want to write it, I still have ideas, and I still generally enjoy it. So, as a big thank you to everyone who's stuck with this even though my un-inspired patches, and a big sorry for all the long waits, I've tried really hard to get this finished for you in less than, well…last time ¬ ¬ And by try really hard I mean I should actually be working on finishing my 20 page chem. prac right now…ha…ha…BE GRATEFUL O.o

Lol, no, I'm really very thankful for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten, and all the great support. I've tried to make this a bit longer than normal for you guys, just for a treat.

**Please note - **I'm still proofing this myself so there will be mistakes, sorry. Also, don't believe everything you read. Remember characters can lie…or at least not tell full truths ;)

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**The Fight For A Tournament And A Promise**

Kaoru watched as crimson eyes darted from her own blue ones, to the floor, then to the side, and then back to hers again. She watched them shift from sceptical to intrigued, to worried, to guilty, to angry and then to just Kai. He started at her, unflinchingly, but deeply troubled.

She smiled softly.

"You're my captain so I trust your judgment. If you say I'm not allowed to blade I'll accept your decision but regardless of my participation or non-participation in that battle I'll promise you now Kai. I will win. I won't take that back. If you let me blade I'll win. If you don't let me blade…well, I would have won." She licked her lips, nervous. "I promise you Kai, as you're _team mate_."

She looked at him firmly, saying with her eyes what she knew he didn't want said aloud. 'As your friend.'

For a long moment Kai said nothing. He looked down.

"Kaoru. I don't know if I can…"

"Why not?" It was Ray who cut off the older teen, his tone indignant. "Why is it that you're always so reluctant to let Kaoru blade?"

"Two minutes bladers." Said the intercom.

"Kai." This time it was Hilary who spoke, "When Kaoru asked to blade Mariah you asked me if I could promise to win against her."

Crimson eyes met the gentle brown ones of his other female team mate.

"I said no." She reminded him. "Now, can you promise us you'll beat Renna?"

There was silence for a long moment as Kai wondered what he could say to such a question and Hilary watched him with knowing eyes.

He shook his head.

"Ru. Will you promise us you'll win against Renna?"

Kaoru stared at the brunette in surprise, but then nodded. "I'll defiantly win. No matter what."

Hilary grinned and turned to Kai. "Guess Kaoru's blading, ne?"

Kai looked from Hilary, who seemed ridiculously proud of herself, to the rest of his team, who nodded their approval, and finally to Kaoru.

He sighed.

"Guess she is." He admitted.

The girl gave a happy gasp but the look in her captains' eyes silenced her almost at once. It was worry…but something else as well. Something she couldn't identify at just a glance.

"I trust you," he said. "as your Captain."

She tried to fight it, but the urge was just too great and despite her best efforts the utterly, idiotically, happy grin spread across her face like wildfire. She could see it in his eyes, what he couldn't say out loud. She could see it so clearly she could almost hear it.

'I trust you as your friend.'

* * *

She was buzzing with excitement as the announcers recapped the previous games, and as her team set up on the sideline bench, she bounced next to it, biting her lip.

She wouldn't be staying there for long…the thought made her practically shiver in anticipation.

"Captains?" the practised voice of DJ Jazzman that boomed from the loud speakers. Kai and Lee stepped up to the closed beydish.

"Who will you be sending out for the final match captains?" Asked the man pleasantly.

Lee smirked. "Renna." He said calmly.

"Of course Brad." Commented AJ from the announcers box. "After all, Lee's been quoted saying it himself: Renna's his best."

"And from the Bladebreakers?" asked Jazzman.

Kai paused. He knew he could still change his mind and thoughts of doing so plagued him suddenly. In the end it was the grin on Lee's face - the look that practically screamed 'I've got you backed into a corner and you know it. I can see your every more.' - that made him forget his hesitation.

"Kaoru will blade." He stated firmly and then, with a defiant look that dared someone to challenge him, walked back to the seats.

Silence floated in response.

Lee's jaw had dropped and he was making small, confused sounds at the back of his throat. Renna had dropped her coke and not yet regained the presence of mind to ebb the flow of the sticky, fizzy liquid. The commentators had been struck comment less.

Only a second passed and then the hum of gossiped speculation exploded around them. It didn't take the commentators long to recover from the momentary lapse either.

"Kaoru?" Brad asked in astonishment. "I mean, she's good, but against Renna…" He trailed off.

"Surely not?" Supplied AJ. "Is it the bid of a desperate man, Brad?

"Seems like it, doesn't it AJ. But lets not forget what an intelligent boy Kai is. He's never made a foolish move before."

"True Brad, true."

"And we've had quite a few surprises from the Captains as off late, but as far as I can tell the gambles have been paying off for them, haven't they?"

"Well." Expelled AJ in a puff of air heavy with scepticism, "All I can say is, Kai'd better hope your logic is on his side."

Brad Best chuckled. "I hear ya AJ. Whether or not it's a wise gamble is yet to be seen, but I'll tell ya, Kai's just made one hell of a bet."

They commentators' words meant nothing more than a distant hum for Kaoru. She barely heard them, nor did she hear the roar of the crowds. All that was in her and all that she felt, heard and saw was excitement, anticipation and nervousness.

"Are you ready?" Max's gentle question snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yeh." It was barely above a breath but the all heard it and grinned. The excitement of the battle was almost contagious.

"Kaoru." Kai reached them and stood in front of her, "I…you…" He bit his tongue, ashamed to have stuttered. Kaoru laughed.

"I'll win. I'm ready so don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I trust you. You're smart and strong, I know you won't let us down."

His confidence was like a 200-volt shock to her. Her heart sped up, her fists clenched and her eyes widened. "Kai." She whispered. "I won't. I promise."

He nodded and from beside them Ray and Hilary snickered loudly.

Hilary grinned "Gee. Why don't you just get married guys?"

Max laughed, "Oh, I trust you soooo much Kaoru, you're sooo smart!" Despite imitating Kai his voice began to take a more feminine tone until he was practically singing, "And you're sooo strong Kaoru, you'd neeeever let us down Kaoru! I loooveee you Kaoru! Marry mee Kaoruuu."

Tyson and Kai were giving the boy almost identically disgusted looks and Kaoru was suppressing laughter when Hilary joined in, playing her part.

"Oh Kai-kuunn, you're so sexy, of course I'll marry you, you big sexy beast!" She wrapped herself around Max's arm and the two crumbled into laughs together.

"What the hell?" Managed Tyson weakly, "Kaoru's not marrying anyone! That's not even funny!"

A coughed laugh from behind him cut him off and standing there was Kaoru, hand held to mouth in a poor effort to stop from cracking up.

"Oh hilarious." Remarked Kai sarcastically, looking down his nose to the girl beside him, now red in the face from her poorly concealed humour. She looked up at him guiltily but smiling behind her hand, "Just hilarious. Yeh, let's go get married. Let's ignore the fact that we're 16, met only one and a bit months ago and that neither of us are interested in a relationship and let's just go get married. Right now even! Let's just leave the tournament finals and go buy a ring!"

It was the straw that broke the camels back. Even Tyson snorted and clutched his stomach in laughter, then others almost bending doubled from the force of their laughter, it was just too uncommon to hear such a thing come from Kai's mouth.

"Oh Kai," giggled Kaoru when the shuddering laughter finally began to subside. "It's my life long dream, you've made me the happiest girl in the world!" She took his arm and leant against his side. "Of course I'll marry you!"

This cause another round of laughter but it was cut short.

"Bladers step up!" DJ Jazzmans voice filled the stadium and pulled them back to the reality that had been temporarily escaped. The reality of a blader stronger than was imaginable and of a battle that would decide their future.

Kaoru frowned.

"Seriously," Ray began solemnly, "You really are smart and strong and we all do trust you and we know you'll do well." Kaoru smiled hugely at him, "If Kai dumps you just let me know ok?" He winked and Kaoru giggled.

"Do you're best Ru," smiled Hilary and the others nodded.

"The outcome…" began Tyson, "It doesn't even matter, just have fun, just…"

"I know." She smiled at him. "I'm going now! Cheer for me!" She waved to them as she walked up to the beydish.

Across from her stood Renna, waiting with a confident smile on her face. "Took you're time Kaoru."

"Just trying to help you postpone your defeat."

Renna laughed. "We'll see."

"We will."

"Bladers ready?"

"Sorry Kaoru, but I'm not giving this one up. This round is mine."

"You only want this round? Well…I dunno how that's gonna bode for you winning, but alright, you can have it." Kaoru winked at the blond, who looked at her eyebrow raised.

"Very funny. But I'm serious. Don't expect to win now. You're my friend but I'm gonna destroy you."

"Haha! Sounds like fun."

"Ah…Bladers ready?" Asked Jazzman again, having received no answer the first time.

"Ready." Nodded Kaoru.

"Ready." Confirmed Renna, flipping a piece of blond and pink hair out of her face and threading her ripcord into her launcher.

"Then 3, 2, 1," there was a moment where the whole world seemed to stop and there was nothing but Kaoru and Renna and the beydish and the dangerous aura that was flooding from the blond haired girl. "Let it Rip!"

Just like the first time there was a whoosh and everything around the stadium was sent backwards with the force of Renna's launch. Kaoru's hair whipped back into her face and she was forced to close her eyes tightly against it. Then a millisecond later there was a crash and the blade was whining in the middle of the beydish.

"Serapha!"

It was at this moment that Kaoru's Beyblade hit, clear moments after Renna's. The cyber leopard bit beast was almost out of the blade, and Kaoru's had just gained it's balance.

"Go!" The white leopard, now fully in view, placed its feet firmly and steadied itself for an attack. "Virus Infection!"

"Aura!" Kaoru commanded and the angel began to rise but much too late.

From the leopard bit other small creatures were sprouting. Black cat heads, simplified to a simple black orb with two black triangle ears protruding, began to gather in mass in the air. From seemingly nowhere, a mouth opened on the cat heads and two rows of silver teeth glistened.

Aura was almost fully out of her blade when the sharp mouths began to snap open and closed repetitively and then set their sights on her.

Down at the level of the beyblades, Renna's smacked into Kaoru's from every angle possible: above, below, front on. At the level of the bitbeasts, the small cat viruses were doing the same thing to Aura, attacking and attacking from every angle.

All of a sudden Aura began to decompose. The cats were taking bites out of her and the flesh around the bites was falling apart, returning to nothing.

"A-Aura!" Called Kaoru, distraught and confused.

"Serapha! Do it now!"

Aura was weak and Kaoru was distracted and Renna made use of the situation. The white leopard launched itself through the mass of cat viruses and smacked full into Aura.

Kaoru felt it before her mind comprehended it.

Her blade hit her ear as it flew passed, one of the attack edges making a little cut, and then with a metallic clang it fell to the floor outside the beydish.

Then there was stillness.

"Wow." Breathed Kaoru, her microphone carrying the sound and breaking the silence. She grinned, "You're brilliant! This is gonna be so much fun!"

The blond haired girl practically gaped. "I…I just threw you out of the dish in under a minute! Aren't you the least bit worried?"

"Oh…I suppose. But I'm gonna win don't you worry about that!"

The crowd cheered.

"Well!" Laughed AJ Topper from the commentators box, "I don't know about her chances but Kaoru's attitude is sure right up there isn't it Brad?"

His colleague laughed too. "It is that, AJ. Imagine walking away from a match like that with a smile on your face! That's either some seriously amazing move she's planning in that head of hers,…or some serious denial."

With a wave to Renna, Kaoru descended the stairs and picked up her blade. She walked back to her team mates rubbing the back of her neck and laughing sheepishly.

"Hehe, oops! She's really good!"

"No kidding…" Mumbled Tyson, still looking shell shocked.

Kai was torn between being hurt because she'd broken her promise, and supportive because she'd lost. He choose instead to remain silent.

Kaoru saw his confusion and smiled.

"It's ok. You're allowed to be upset."

He didn't respond so instead she walked over to Kenny. "What weights do you have chief?"

That got his attention. "You want to weigh down that blade of yours more?"

".5s-3s. But yours is already so heavy Kaoru, I don't recommend making it heavier."

"Nah, it's okay. Don't worry. You don't have anything heavier than a 3?"

"Heavier!" Kenny laughed. Most blades weighed three, sometimes two units, and occasionally a blade could weigh 5 units, but that was a heavy blade and it was hard to handle. Kaoru's weighed 7, though she occasionally modified it to be lighter for battles where endurance mattered.

"Don't be so silly," scorned Kai, now actually growing quite angry, "Add a three to yours and it'll be 10! That's not even manageable!"

"It won't be a long round, the 3 will do chief." She was pointedly ignoring Kai's concern and she could see it was annoying him.

"Kaoru," Tyson's voice was quiet and careful. "Are you sure that's a good idea, you won't get much control, one wrong move and that blade'll go haywire."

She nodded, "I know. Don't worry I have a plan." She flashed him a smile.

"Well, while I like the idea of a plan," smiled Ray, coming to stand next to her and watch as she pushed and clicked the extra weight ring in place, "can you even launch that thing properly with out additions to your rip cord?"

"If I couldn't, how would I even manage my normal blade?" She asked rhetorically, focused on her task, "Arm strength Ray."

"You want us to believe you can control a 10 weight blade with arm strength?"

Finished with her work she looked up at him and grinned, "I'll arm wrestle you some time, then you'll get it."

She looked at Kai then. His face was distinctly more angry than sympathetic. She smiled gently at him.

"I'm gonna win Kai. Don't think for a moment I'll break that promise." Her blade glowed silver brightly under her fingers, and a tendril of silver glow twined its way up her arm. "Just watch me."

He held her eyes firmly, the silver flecks in them shining brightly under the overhead lights. There was no worry there, no uncertainty, and it gave him confidence.

"I'm watching."

"Bladers step up for round two!"

Kaoru grinned at him and then turned at walked back to the beydish, her 10-weight blade in hand.

"Back for more?" Renna asked, and smirked.

Kaoru smiled lightly, and then let the expression slip. "Like you said last round, this round is mine."

Renna laughed and then grinned at her competition. "Do your worse then."

Kaoru grinned back, all seriousness gone. "Oh, I fully intend to. Sorry, I underestimated you last time, but I'm not the sort that makes the same mistake twice."

"We'll see."

"Bladers ready?"

The girls nodded.

"Then 3, 2, 1,"

They'd been right, the blade was heavy, even lifting it to her launcher was an effort but Kaoru managed it without so much as a wince. In fact, the weight made her more confident, she was ready for this. In her head Aura assured her that she was ready also, and cracked a few knuckles for good measure.

"Let it RIP!"

There was the same whoosh of air, Kaoru's hair was thrown back again, but instead of the expected crash, there was a louder, more distinct 'boom!' Kaoru smirked through a cloud of dust and it was only then that the quieter, almost laughable in comparison, 'crash' happened.

"Aura."

The bit beast was visible in a millisecond, silver light wrapping around her and then pluming outwards, dispelling the unsightly dust. She seemed bigger than usual, her blue skirt and light blond hair whipping impossibly in non-existent wind. Her red eyes were cold and calculating and took in Renna with no thought of mercy.

"Serapha!"

"Spirit Bow!"

The other bitbeast appeared across from them, cyber wings out wide, braced for attack or defence but already Aura had pulled back into a position most familiar and reliable to Kaoru.

She stood almost side on, legs parted, and eyes half lidded, relaxed and at ease with the surety of her attack. One arm was held out in front of her body, fist clenched but nothing in it, her other arm bent tightly to her body, fingers splayed. It looked almost to be a position one might shoot an arrow from, and sure enough a bow and arrow began to materialise in the waiting hands, which curled to fit it.

The weapon was not solid. It was made of a glowing, purple-blue light and kept only a loose shape, as if almost liquid. The arrow tip was not an arrow tip at all; it was instead a great plume of moving light, washing over itself, dissipating and reforming and then repeating the process again and again.

Aura waited only as long as it took for Renna to bark out, "Defence!" before she let the arrow go.

It ploughed through the air at an unbelievable speed, the tip of it seeming to grow larger still and a trail of purple light feathers falling in its wake. Then it hit Renna's Serapha, and below, Kaoru's blade, all 10 weights behind it, hit Renna's blade.

There was no fight. The leopard gave a cry of shock and pain and disappeared. The next moment it was hitting the wall of the stadium, behind which the spectators sat, rebounding magnificently and clattering to the floor.

Aura remained only a second longer, turned her head and met Kaoru's bright blue eyes with her red ones and then she vanished.

Renna stood stock still, crystal blue eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Shit." It was the voice of one of the commentators and so blunt that it made both girls laugh suddenly. The crowd roared.

"Shit indeed." Repeated Renna when she could finally gather breath. "You're amazing Kaoru! I never, ever expected you to beat me. No offence."

Kaoru smiled, "None taken. I told you this round was mine."

"Heh, then working on that theory, the next round is mine."

Kaoru laughed. "No. The next round is ours to fight for. There's no ignorance to hide behind, we each know how skilled the other is and are ready for it. Now it comes down to only who is the more skilled."

Renna's expression was serious now. "I guess it does."

"Do you best." Kaoru forced. She was feeling, all of a sudden, small and scared and vastly out of her depth.

"Yeah." The voice was weaker than usual and Kaoru wondered if Renna wasn't experiencing the same uncertainties as her. "You too."

Both girls turned from the podium and walked back to their teams.

"The bladers will be given a 10 minute interval in which to prepare themselves for the deciding match," announced AJ Topper.

"Fell free to get up and move around but please don't exit as far as the foyer," Added Brad Best. "And be back for the match."

Kaoru kept her head down, a smile on her face as the spectators cheered for her. This felt good. It felt like home.

She looked up and met the mixed expressions of her teammates. Half looked at her in shock - namely Hilary, whose shoulders had gone so slack a spaghetti strap was falling down one - and half grinned at her joyously. She grinned back.

"Well," She said as she reached them, "I hate to say I told you so, but…!"

Kai shook his head and smiled. "I doubted you. I'm sorry. That was amazing."

"Live and learn," Kaoru joked, forgiving him. "I underestimated her in the first round, that was my mistake. Next round will be the hard one, we both know exactly what the other's capable of."

The bladebreakers who had been gaping closed their mouths, and those grinning sobered in an instant.

"And you've used your trump card…" Tyson sighed and stepped forward to give his friend a quick hug. "What are you gonna do Ru?"

She smirked. "Who says I've used my trump card?"

"But…the spirit bow…"

"Is a very powerful technique that I save for very powerful opponents." She answered simply.

"Then you have another technique you can use?" Asked Hilary bouncing up to the girl and grinning excitedly at her. Kaoru chuckled quietly and looked away.

"Well…not exactly…" Her team sweat-dropped. "But…well, think of it like this: I had that trick up my sleeve, and I used it, so normally that'd be it for me." She smirked. "Except, in this case, I have ten minutes before I face her again to stuff something new up that sleeve!"

Ray laughed. "You're gonna invent a new technique in five minutes? Kaoru, you're a god!"

Kaoru laughed too. "Ok, well, not a new technique, but a new strategy." Her face became serious and she walked over to Kenny and handed her blade gently to him. "Chief, can you take off all the weights and put a three on?"

The team gaped. "A three!" Exclaimed Tyson, coming up beside her, "You normally blade with a seven Kaoru! That's five weights lighter!"

She grinned at him. "Trust me ok?"

"You have a plan?" Asked Kai.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeh. I think so."

"Hey!" Interrupted Max, darting forward to where Kenny sat, "Give me that blade for a minute! I want to see how heavy it is!"

Kenny handed it to him and, as he took it from the boy, his hand fell and he stumbled forwards.

"What the hell!" Exclaimed Max, slowly lifting his hand in shock and staring at the small purple blade.

"Is it really that heavy?" Asked Ray, and came to stand beside Max. The blond handed it to him and, like Max's had, his hands dipped deeply with the weight of it. "No way!" He insisted.

"Yeah yeah," Kaoru sighed, "It's heavy. But it had to be for that attack to work at maximum efficiency. Now, if you don't mind I have a battle to prepare for."

They ignored her, Tyson taking the blade and, after recovering from the shock of the weight, lifting it up and down in bicep curls and bragging at his strength. Kaoru gave him a blank look, sighed and sat on the sideline bench. She closed her eyes.

"Meditating?" Came Kai's voice from outside of her subconscious.

"Kind of." She agreed and felt him sit next to her. "Give me a minute."

"I won't interrupt." He agreed.

In her mind Kaoru searched for and eventually found Aura. The angel was lying down, spread eagle. Obviously resting. As Kaoru walked over to her she cracked open a perfect red eye, the only feature of her true form she carried over to her angel form.

When Kaoru reached Aura she didn't sit down, but stood beside the resting girl, and looked up at the sky of her mind.

"Got 'em." Stated Aura simply.

"Got 'em." Agreed Kaoru.

"The next round won't be so easy. You have a plan?"

Kaoru nodded. "We're pulling out all the stops for this one Aura."

"All?"

"Well," Smiled Kaoru, "Nearly all. No need to over do it."

The angel laughed a little. "They were strong though."

"True." Mused Kaoru, "And I did make a promise."

"If it comes to it we'll do whatever we have to. If we're in a position where we might have to use that-"

"Then we'll have to."

Aura nodded.

Kaoru smiled and held out a hand for the angel, who, after a moment's hesitation, took it. From where their hands touched Aura began to revert back to her true form. The skin of her fingers became slightly less pale, then her arms, and then her whole body. Her clothes changed, her wings disappeared, she lost a little height and her hair colour changed completely.

"Come on," Said Kaoru, to the now almost normal looking girl and pulled her along, "We have a battle to win."

Kai had been amused by Kaoru's calm behaviour for all of about 20 seconds. Two minutes in saw his interest totally lost and his mind off on a tangent. That was why, when Kaoru suddenly started glowing silver and flaking silver light, he very nearly jumped a metre high in shock. Instead, like the calm captain he was, he stood slowly, and moved in front of her.

"Oh, Kai, what are you-- What the hell is that!" Tyson had turned at Kai's movement and then caught sight of his glowing best friend. "What's she-"

"She said she was preparing for the next match, I'm just trying to block other people from seeing."

Hilary nodded and moved to sit beside Kaoru, Ray stood next to Kai, pretending to be part of some sort of huddle, and the others grouped around too.

Kaoru opened her eyes.

"Are you ok?" Asked Kai immediately.

"Fine…" She whispered, a little unsure and confused at her crowded reception.

"You were glowing…" Supplied Tyson quietly.

"Oh." Whispered Kaoru, and smiled. "Sorry about that."

"Are you meant to glow?"

The girl shrugged. "It can't hurt."

Her team exchanged worried, and not just a little confused, looks, before turning back to the dark haired girl.

"Are you ready then?" Asked Max.

"Oh, yes." The girl assured them calmly. "As ready as I could ever hope to be. Kenny," she called out to the short boy, "Is my blade fitted?"

"With threes." The boy agreed and handed it to her.

She stared at it in puzzlement for a minute and then laughed. "It doesn't feel like my beyblade at all!" She threw it up a few times, the second throw so strong it clashed with the glass of the sideline bench's roof and made a loud bang. Kaoru giggled again as she caught it. "Oops. Guess I don't know my own strength. It's just so light!"

Hilary took it from the girls' hands and weighted it gently. "It's the same as mine." She murmured. "It's light to you?"

"Very." Kaoru grinned.

"It's one lighter now than Tyson's and mine, two lighter than Maxes and a half heavier than Rays." Said Kai. "You've gone from having the heaviest blade by far to the second lightest, by not much. Can you handle such a big change?"

Kaoru nodded, solemnly this time. "I can. Trust me just once more, please."

"Of course." Tyson ruffled her hair. "You're doing so well. I know you can win."

Kaoru smiled and leaned into the touch. "I will." She agreed.

"Without hurting yourself?" Kai asked darkly.

Kaoru swallowed, because she knew she could not make that promise now. "Perhaps." She whispered quietly but the doubt in her voice was enough to whip Kai's head around and for the others to fall instantly silent and give her their full attention. "But…probably not…" She admitted.

Kai stood. "You intend to get yourself hurt?"

"The strategy I'm using involves risk, yes."

"Then use a different strategy."

"No. This is…it's the best there'll ever be for fighting Renna."

"Use the second best."

"I want to win!"

"We all want to win!"

"Then let me!"

"I won't compromise your safety to do it!"

He realised the words a moment after he said them and instantly drew back from the argument and the shocked, almost amused looks of his friends.

"I understand your worry, but no battle is without risk! My safety is compromised every time I go out there."

"Hn." Mumbled Kai and sat, hoping for the conversation to move on around him. Instead, it snagged.

"You'd rather lose than put Kaoru in danger?" Asked Hilary, smirking.

"How noble." Jested Max, and laughed.

Kai snorted. "I would be concerned for Hilary's safety too if she was put into such a situation."

Tyson chuckled. "You're just a regular ladies man, ain't ya Kai!"

Kai gave the boy a look he generally reserved for sewer smell, "I believe the term is chivalrous."

"Three minutes bladers." Came the reminder over intercom. The teasing fell silent and Kai licked his lips.

"Ok." Whispered Kaoru. She stood and stripped her jacket off, rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. "I'm ready."

"Kaoru…" Murmured Hilary, "You're chest…"

The dark haired girl blinked and looked down. Just above the dip of her breasts was a little red triangle, point down. It was obviously not just stuck on, and almost as obviously not painted on or tattooed. It appeared not to be an addition to her skin, but rather, part of it.

"What is it?" Asked Max.

"Oh." Kaoru smiled fondly and brushed the spot with her fingertips. "It's the technique I'll use to win this match."

Kai frowned. "That's a technique?"

The girl nodded. "It's a technique that joins myself and Aura together." She closed her eyes and the patch glowed silver under her fingertips.

"I thought the faithspell joined you and Aura."

Kaoru didn't open her eyes, but shook her head slightly. "The Faith Spell allows Aura access to power I carry, or knowledge I have, but it in no way joins us together. This technique," She paused and opened eyes that were now pure reddest red. "Joins us."

The was silence within the team, until Hilary asked very quietly, "Aura?"

Kaoru shook her head and as they watched her eyes returned to blue. "No. I'm not Aura, but I see with her eyes, I hear with her ears, I feel with her skin. This technique makes us one. When I launch her blade, even when she is in the dish and I am on the edge, we will be together. This techniques does not cause us to share power, or knowledge but rather share a mind."

The others frowned. "But can't a bitbeast and blader normally communicate with one another in their thoughts?"

"It's not the same…" Kaoru frowned, unsure how to explain it. "We don't communicate. We just think, we…" She sighed. "In your mind, when you want to tell your bit to attack, don't you thing 'Attack over there?'" The bladebreakers nodded, "When we use this technique, if one of us sees an opportunity for attack, the other sees it also, there is no command to attack, but merely a judgement that attacking is wise. If we see two opportunities, maybe one to attack from the front, one to attack from the back, instead of voicing both and fighting over which is the wiser, two possibilities register, the pros and cons are weighed instantly and the appropriate path is taken."

The group gaped at her.

"It is not that two minds have been connected, but rather that they have become one. We think, feel, see and act as the same thing."

"One minute Bladers."

"That's amazing…" Kai whispered, "Have you always been able to do this?"

Kaoru nodded, "Yeh, I have, but I don't because…it's not without it's risks."

Kai's eyes hardened, but Tyson spoke, "That was what you were talking about before, the risks, what will it do to you?"

"It's not so bad," she girl shook her head, "But, because our minds are merged, the pain that Aura feels, I will also feel." She admitted quietly. "It won't show on my body, I won't bruise or get cuts, but, it will hurt."

Kai stood, eyes wide, but before he could speak Kaoru cut him off, "I won't be told not to use it!" She told him, "It's my choice to make and I've made it."

He paused, then frowned, "Kaoru-"

"One more time." She whispered intently, her eyes locked with his crimson ones. "One more time trust me. Please."

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Bit his lip and averted his eyes.

Kaoru smiled softly, then she turned and walked up to the dish. Renna was already there, watching her and waiting.

Kaoru drew a deep breath. Renna didn't frighten her, and she was fairly confident that with her and Aura's combined effort they could defeat her, but there was such a sense that this was the moment to prove herself. For her team and for herself she wanted to assure the Beyblading community that she was worthy of a place on the world champion team.

"Bladers ready?" Asked Jazzman beside them.

'It'll be okay.' She thought, 'It'll be easy.' And smiled, recognising that that had been more Aura's thought than her own.

"Ready." She confirmed.

Renna nodded.

Jazzman swallowed and nodded too. The tension was thick in the stadium, neither commentators nor spectators knew what to expect. Would this match be so quickly decided as the first and second? Or, now that they had each gauged the others power, would it proceed more slowly, with more measure and caution?

"Then 3," Kaoru drew her launcher, and settled her blade onto it with a click, "2, 1…LET IT RIP!"

Again Renna's blade erupted with a whine and a crash, but Kaoru's hit the dish markedly faster, by a clear, long moment, in a blur and without a sound. Kaoru stared at the dish for far longer than she had the previous round. The rush of air exploded up from Renna's blade and through her hair back but she didn't look away. Kaoru had no plans to launch an attack like last time, but she could not assume Renna's plans were the same. And she needed to avoid any potential attack if she hoped to continue that match to the point where she could win it.

By the time the explosive power of the launch disappeared, Kaoru's blade had whizzed to the other side of the dish and assumed a defensive position. Renna's did not make a move to attack and as soon as Kaoru was certain it was staying that way she looked up.

It was an odd sensation. Because she and Aura now shared a mind she saw both what Aura's saw, and what she did. It was a different kind of seeing though, the images that came from Aura's mind, almost like a very strong, incredibly clear memory. It was a confusing amount of information to process at once, but years of practice had made it a sense that greatly enhanced her ability, rather than detracting from it.

Now she saw in the back of her mind the image of the beydish and opposing Beyblade, at her blades level, and through her own eyes she saw Renna, who'd already looked up, and was staring at her.

"Who would have thought." Whispered the blond, "You and I, in the finals."

Kaoru smiled. "Weird."

"You removed the weights." Renna commented, her eyes briefly breaking away to dart down and inspect Kaoru's blade. "A lot of them! You have a plan?" She grinned up at Kaoru sneakily and the girl gave a loud, amused laugh.

"Wing it!" She declared, and stuck her thumb up at Renna who laughed too at the abrupt confession. "You have a plan?" Smiled Kaoru gently.

"None." Renna remarked lightly, "You're strong. I was impressed."

The two girls shared happy, non-threatening looks but below her smile Kaoru knew that Renna's answer was a lie, as much as she was sure Renna knew she didn't just plan to wing it.

"Ah," Renna sighed and snapped a hair tie onto her fingers. "I don't like this much, it's a lot of effort, you could have made it easier."

Kaoru snorted, "Look who's talking."

The girl smiled and gathered her hair into a ponytail. "Nonetheless," she continued, winding the first knot of the band over it, "I accepted responsibility for this kind of thing when I joined the White Tigers. And I also agreed to follow the instructions of my captain." She wound the second knot over the first, "So." She smiled, and let the last knot pull into place with a snap, "Shall we get on with it?"

No sooner had the words been said than both beyblades catapulted forward with a start, Renna planning to catch Kaoru unawares, and Kaoru ready for her trick and compensating. The skirted past each other and around the sides of the dish and then they met with an explosive sound and a shower of sparks.

The lethal red blade, all razor blades and whining power, collided with Kaoru's now far lighter one head on. However, the extra speed the lighter blade produced, gave it sufficient momentum to receive the attack, and they met with equal force.

Kaoru drew a sharp breath as the first hit erupted though her stomach. She exhaled slowly. The first hit was always the worst, then they numbed and became easier. She did a quick physical assessment, which she thought Aura had most likely been responsible for (something in the realm of "Are you alright?"), and discovered nothing overly worrying. It was the feeling of pain and nothing more, there was no wound there.

The blades parted and then hit again and again until showers of sparks permeated the air with glowing hotness. Faintly Kaoru could hear the commentators and the crowds, but it was only noise, she couldn't make any of it out. All she knew was the beydish, and her blade, and the attacking blade with its lethally, sharp edges.

Already the pain was almost gone. She was happy with her body for adapting so fast, now the battle would be easier and she could focus her whole attention on winning.

At Aura's level the red blade came at them, she swerved and avoided it at the last second. It had been a split decision, though Kaoru couldn't say who had wanted to fight and who had wanted to run. At some point, between them in her head, they had agreed without consciously knowing it that running was the better option and now she followed her instinct, and likely Aura's as well, and sped as far away from the other blade as she could.

Renna chased her but, with the weights removed, Aura moved like nothing else. Not two rotations around the dish and Aura had caught up to the red blade and now trailed it with ease.

Kaoru licked her lips and let herself settle back into the unconscious knowing her join with Aura produced. Without thinking it and without command her bitbeast rose in a plume of feathers and purple-blue light.

"What the-" Exclaimed Renna abruptly, for it was unheard of for a bitbeast to come out on it's own, as it apparently had, but both Kaoru and Aura ignored her and darkness started to pool around the angels wings. "Shit." It was impossible for Renna to turn her blade around now. That would require pausing, and a hit when stationary almost guaranteed her shot from the dish.

The Shadow Reaper attack spread out around them, darkness pooling past Renna's blade and then up the side of the dish and around her.

"Serapha!" She called and from the midst of the blackness came a flash of lime green.

"No." Kaoru whispered out in a voice more mature than her own. "I won't let you." The darkness flared and then compacted.

"Ah." Renna let out a short cry and stumbled. "Serapha! Short circuit it!"

"Tighter!" Hissed Kaoru through her teeth and the shadows constricted again.

"Fight it!" Gradually the green lines broke through the darkness and began to disintegrate it.

"No! Damn it." Growled Kaoru and the shadows spread again but Serapha's attack was stronger and it pushed them back, and then dissolved them. Kaoru frowned, closed her eyes and drew her thoughts and Auras back together. She couldn't possibly have predicted that Renna would be able to use that attack on blades behind her. Most attacks only worked head on.

The red blade, bit beast now glowing atop it, ran for the side of the dish, skirted right up it, off, and did a back flip to land behind Aura. Without pause the purple blade did a funny, double spin and turned on the spot. Kaoru smiled, it was just one of the advantages of her now much lighter blade.

They faced off again, clashing and dodging, but now with their bitbeasts out the effect was greater. The green and silver cyber leopard slashed at Aura with her claws and the angel was forced to fend them off with her hands. Kaoru cringed, but it was bearable. The angel struck out a second later and caught then leopard in the side of the face.

Then, without warning, there was a sword through Serapha. The cat cried out and stumbled, the beyblade below it wobbling. The black sword smoked silver against the not-really-there flesh, and the leopard yowled, fell and began to retreat back into it's bitchip.

"What the hell!" Renna swore, and glared up at Kaoru.

The girl smirked. "Shadow Sword." She offered, and winked, "Activates when the Shadow Reaper fails."

Renna growled and looked back at her blade, bit her lip and looked away. Clearly she was somewhat at a loss for what to do. The attack had been made and finished, her Short Circuit was now useless.

Kaoru ran her tongue along her bottom lip. She could feel her and Aura's minds melding even closer together but she fought against it. There was a point at which such closeness would become dangerous for them

Together they reached out Aura's arm to catch the black sword that came spinning back through the air. They twisted the sword around her wrist and positioned it ready for attack. Kaoru scrunched her eyebrows together and forced herself to see that Aura was the one now running to attack the injured leopard, and not herself.

"Virus Infection!" Commanded Renna suddenly and Aura immediately pulled back. Kaoru knew the damage this attack could do since it had been used once on her already.

The little black cats began to grow out of the top of the blade where Serapha had disappeared. They collected in less numbers than the first time, but they were bigger and their eyes glowed.

Kaoru cursed. She had no idea how to avoid this attack or how to overcome it. They fended off the first few attacks with the shadow sword but there were too many and the ones they defeated where replaced quickly by more. They were forced into retreating.

No. Kaoru corrected herself, Aura was forced to retreat. She frowned. The lines were becoming too blurred.

"Pull back." She spoke aloud to separate herself. "Run away, don't get near to them."

The purple blade pulled away and darted away to the opposite side of the dish. The little cat heads chased but couldn't catch Aura in her now so much faster blade.

Within their joined minds Kaoru and Aura together searched for a solution. Then, in one single fluid process, they found a possibility, judged it worthy of trial, Aura spun to face her attacker, let her Shadow sword become the Spirit Bow, and from it launched quite a different move, one where a thousand little arrows sprung from the bow.

A sigh of amazement lifted from the audience. It was a beautiful sight. The little arrows, purple-blue and flaming light like their bigger counter parts, rocketed into the air and fell like starts, scattering flaks of the light and piercing the virus cats.

The things vanished and Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly there were more.

"Not so easy." Renna promised, and Kaoru looked up to meet the girls ice blue eyes.

"No." She agreed. "Not quite."

She hadn't realised just how much she'd adjusted to the cavern of her mind. The outside world looked odd, like the lights had been dimmed. The flaks of light residue that still existed from her spirit bow lit the air in funny patches of blue and Renna's face across from her swam in sharp focus, lit warmly.

She expelled a breath and closed her eyes again. She could see in her strange Aura view that the bit was on the run again, a move calculated subconsciously by the both of them to be the best in that situation.

The match was giving her a headache and the longer it progressed the more she became aware of just how well it could go wrong.

Her eyes flicked open. Aura spun around and drew a full spirit bow. The great plumb of blue light-fire crackled and then Aura released the arrow. It shot through the air but did not attempt to attack any of the cat creatures. It hit instead the red blade.

Renna stepped back and the black cats disappeared, but no damage seemed to be done to her blade.

"Clever." Hissed the blond, and coughed into her hand. Kaoru shook her head.

"Too strong." She whispered.

"Am I?" Smiled Renna.

"Yes. Much too strong." Aura took the arrow in both her hands and broke it in two.

The two halves of light arrow hissed and crackled, the purple blue flames folded around them, and they became two swords. Aura didn't waste a single second before she was charging Serapha with the two lethal looking things.

"Dammit!" Swore Renna as the cyber leopard quickly appeared, "How many attacks do you have!"

The two swords met the leopards' claws and stuck. Serapha sat back on her haunches and roared silently. Aura screamed silently back, pressing the swords down harder from her position hovering over the leopard

"Hold it!" Cried Renna and as she said it green light poured from the leopards claws and they grew about an inch longer.

Kaoru gave a cry with the effort her and Aura's joint mind was under. "No! This is mine!" Aura spread her wings impossibly wide, and the two swords grew in mass, the light-flames roaring around them and flaking off, embers floating in the comparatively dark air.

It was a particularly spectacular sight, the lime green light competing with the purple-blue one, both bitbeasts giving there all in the battle.

"Enough!" Exclaimed Renna, "I apologise Kaoru but I'm sick of this! Serapha! System Crash!"

Kaoru wasn't sure entirely what happened, but something changed. Aura froze in place and the light swords disappeared, little sections of her fuzzy as if not really there.

And suddenly everything went cold within her. Her joints seized up and she felt herself become as stiff as Aura was. There was a gap in her mind that she recognized as the place Aura's mind should be. It felt odd but what felt odder was the sense that she had no control over herself and all she was currently capable of doing was standing steadfast and solid.

"I'm sorry." Renna apologised again, she was panting a little. "Ideally I wouldn't have used this. It takes a lot of energy and as you can see it's particularly devastating to the recipient, but I do want to win. I can't let my team down. You understand."

Kaoru's legs gave out and she fell to the ground.

"Sorry. It won't be long now." Indeed, Aura, like the attacks that Renna could dispel with Short Circuit, as coming apart bit by lime green bit. Unable to communicate with the angel anymore in her mind Kaoru tried to call out, but her voice stuck in her throat.

She felt trapped, unable to help or do anything. She wanted to cry.

Renna gave her a sad look. "I just don't want to let them down. I don't want to be the reason my team left the tournament. I want to do my best, and do everything I can to get through. I just want to prove that I'm worthy of being a white tiger."

Kaoru's eyes widened. Hadn't she said exactly the same thing? I just want to prove I'm worthy of being a bladebreaker?

'No.' She tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. She was growing colder yet and she could fell her awareness fading with each passing moment but she clung to the strength and consciousness she had and with it managed to turn slightly and cast a look behind herself.

Her team stood there, looking worried and anxious. They couldn't possibly understand what had happened to her and she could see that confusion on their faces. Hilary stood next to Tyson, gripping his arm tightly, and her best friend looked at her half amazed and half at a loss for what was happening. Ray and Kai stood beside them, Ray speaking quickly and anxiously to the older boy and Kai breathing in an undertone, one-syllable responses. Max sat next to Kenny, and alternated between checking the data on screen and checking her progress for himself.

Her and Kai's eyes locked suddenly. She too had a commitment to her team. And she too could not stand to let them down or to be the reason they didn't continue in the tournament. More than that, she had made a promise. And she'd said 'Trust me.'

She frowned and looked back to where Aura was half gone already.

"No." She spoke finally, the words dull and horse but audible. "I won't give up. Do…do what you will, but I'm gonna win. I made a promise." She looked down, her hair was limp, her body was stiff and hurt but when she looked back up her eyes were bright and determined and vibrantly purple, "I made a promise." She said again, a little louder, and then, in a voice that carried not because of its volume but because of its sheer conviction, "And I will honour it!"

Her hair whipped out of her face as if blown by a strong wind and the little triangle on her chest suddenly glowed white. In a matter of moments Aura was completely reformed and glowing the same white, wings spread wide.

In their mind Kaoru and Aura stood facing each other.

"So it came to this." One of them said.

"It can't be helped. We'll have to use that." Said the other. "We'll be careful." She held her hand out.

"…" The first girl took the offered hand silently.

The line that faintly separated Kaoru from Aura became faint, blurred…and then non-existent.

Outside the confines of their mind Aura exploded in white light. Her body was completely obscured, it was only obvious that she had long flowing hair, wings and a skirt.

Kaoru sat where she had fallen, and closed her eyes, seeing entirely through Aura's.

They swooped at the leopard, feeling the power that was entirely theirs and that could so easily take them apart, shivering just below their fingertips. They drew it forward just a bit, broke of a small portion, and with that power Aura drove right into Serapha and the red blade shot with ease from the dish.

Aura remained for only a moment longer in the dish, before the white light evaporated and left no trace of her.

The purple blade came to a stand still, and Kaoru's last scrap of strength gave out and she collapsed and fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

She opened her eyes to a blinding light. 'Heaven?' She thought absently, then, almost laughing, banished the thought. There was no such thing. And so she surmised she must be in a very well lit room, and sat up.

Immediately a multitude of figures, twenty or more, registered in her tired mind, all sitting very close to her, and all staring. She very nearly jumped out of her skin. "What the -" And then they began to speak.

A minute into the barrage of voices she was finally able to recognise the forms of her friends. The BladeBreakers sat closest, the White Tigers stood behind them and, pressed against the very walls of the room, stood the Elites. Every mouth, save Kai's, Aaron's and Kevin's, was open, and steadily questioning her wellbeing.

When finally the volume of their interrogation decreased to a level worth fighting against she raised her hands and insisted, "I'm fine! Really!" The room seemed to quiver with movement, and she realised milliseconds later, that it was the unison of raised eyebrows.

"Kaoru!" Tyson pounced, snatching her hands and bending them awkwardly so that she could see her palms, which she realised much too late were scattered with grazes and cuts. He began to shake her. "You're not ok! You've been unconscious for hours and hours and I thought you were going to be like those TV people who never wake up and then you have to take them off life support and I could never _do that _Kaoru! You'd be a vegetable forever! F.o.r.e.v.e.r."

"Tyson…" she whispered, slightly concerned for him, "They're cuts. Not comas."

"But they could have been!"

"No they…Kai!" She sent him a pleading look; he'd talk some sense into her brother, surely!

Instead she was met with a familiar old glare. She blinked.

"Ah…we'll check back on you later Ru." Assured Lee, and then left with his team, Renna and Mirra bending in to give her a quick kiss to the cheek first. The Elites followed close behind.

"Kai…" she barely noticed them go, "What is it? Didn't we win?"

"We won." He confirmed. "But your life could very well have been the cost." And the bitter disgust in his voice was almost tangible.

"I…"

"What was the power Kaoru?" Asked Hilary, fear in her eyes and sitting very close to Tyson.

"I…"

"And where did it come from?" Added Tyson angrily, "You've never done anything like that before! That was…that was so unbelievable…With power like that your…your…"

"You're several times stronger than any of us." Max finished quietly.

"Have you been holding out on us?" Asked Ray, just as quietly, but with an angry tone in his voice that only those who knew him well knew how to spot.

"I - Of course not!" She was suddenly angry too, "How could you think a thing like that!"

"Then what is it!" Kai was suddenly on his feet, a look in his eyes like none she had ever seen. A look of betrayal. "Because you've never done anything like that in training, or in battle and if even Tyson's never seen or hear of it then what are we to assume but that you've been keeping it from us? Dammit! We fought! And I beat you. But if you'd used that power…even half of that power…" He trailed off and looked away.

"Oh…Kai, no!"

"I trusted you." He spoke quietly, and she wondered if the others would hear "With secrets only Dranzer has heard, and by no will of mine. With the most precious one of all…" She knew the one he meant instantly. The truth that he'd loved his parents, and missed them still. Something he would never tell anybody, but that he had told her. "And you wouldn't even tell me about one power. About a beyblade technique."

"No! It's not that!"

"Then tell me! What is it?"

The look in his eyes, despite his fury, was not one of anger. It was sad, confused, lost and hurt. And the hurt was so deep and ingrown that it reached her very own heart and the words slipped out effortlessly.

"Aura. She's..she's different. She's not a normal bitbeast. Not at all. She's not even a normal spirit. What she is…what she's made up off, are tiny fragments of every spirit that has ever existed, and ever will. A part of Dragoon, smaller than an atom even, and a part of Draylia and Dranzer, Draciel and Drigger. Even parts of the Sun and Moon spirits! And the spirits of the seasons and the elements…right down to the smallest cherry blossom spirit. And part of them all exist in her." She paused briefly when the screaming noise in her head became unbearable.

"Shut up!" She scolded the bitbeast out loud, surprising the others. "Shut up! They're my friends!" And shook her head angrily.

"And that's why," she continued determinedly, "she can use so much power. Because even though the pieces are small, there are so many, from so many awesomely powerful spirits. And combined, the power is so great that…that what you saw was a third…maybe less, of the power she can summon."

"But the why -"

"So much power!" She exclaimed and clutched her sides, eyes pained as the beast in her head raged. "So much. Too much. Can you even begin to fathom just how _heavy_ that much power is? Just how hard it is to see through, to think through, to _breathe _through? Even just a third and I passed out like that. Were I to use half…three quarters…who knows when I would wake. And if I were to use it all…" Her voice shook, and suddenly they all understood, "What would I have left? I'm sure, if I were to use it all…"

Her blade glowed a powerful, cold, silver, and her bitbeast erupted. Red eyes hot with anger and wings spread menacingly she hung an inch from Kaoru's face, glaring. But the smaller girl was neither surprised nor afraid. She stared back unflinchingly and said,

"We would die."

A long moment elapsed in silence and then Aura slapped her. It made no sound because there was no flesh connecting with her cheek, and they didn't see it, for it was so fast, but suddenly Kaoru's head was forcibly thrown to the side and she was holding a red cheek in her hand.

"Aura!" Exclaimed Hilary, and stepped forward as if to stop the angel, before pausing, not really sure what assistance she could offer.

"You have every right to your opinion…" Whispered Kaoru, gently, to a comment they hadn't heard, "But it's as much mine to tell as yours, and they are my friends."

The angel took a few groundless steps backwards, then with a firm shake of her head and a spray of tears she said something that the bladebreakers couldn't hear.

"Don't worry." Said Kaoru and looked up at her bitbeast, "I have no desire to tell them everything today. But…I want them to know something, I want them not to think I betrayed them…I want them to understand…"

"We understand." Said Kai, looking at Kaoru with a mix of worry and acceptance in his eyes. He looked at Aura. "We understand, and we won't ask any more."

Aura stared at him for a moment and then whipped her head around to Kaoru to bark a few silent words.

"Stop it. Kai is harmless."

"I was just worried!" Kai insisted, cutting off the pairs' conversation, "I didn't mean to pry. I didn't mean to make Kaoru tell me something you didn't want her too. Please, if you're angry with her, be angry with me."

Aura looked at him more softly now. She turned to Kaoru. "He's dangerous." She whispered. Kaoru smiled. "He's so dangerous for you, this person…"

"Maybe…" Agreed Kaoru, much to the confusion of her teammates. "I don't know yet, what will happen tomorrow. But I wanted to tell him…them…I want to be with them. They're my friends. So…even if that's true, what you said…I want to keep going…"

The angel was silent, as were the others in the room. "Even though you know what would happen if he…"

"If that happens, I will take the appropriate measures. I will…take responsibility."

With a silent flutter of wings, the angel was before her, and cupped her face in gentle, not-really-there hands. "Kaoru."

"Aura…Am I being selfish?"

The angel smiled. "Maybe. I don't know yet, what will happen tomorrow."

Kaoru grinned to hear her own words repeated.

"So…for the moment…we keep going."

"If that's okay with you…"

She gently kissed Kaoru's cheek and then was gone.

Silence held in the small hospital room for quite a few moments before Max coughed and broke it. "Does your cheek hurt?"

Kaoru shook her head. "No, not a lot. I'm sorry about that…she normally wouldn't do that, I promise. But she was very angry at me for telling you."

"I'm glad you told us," confessed Tyson, "I feel like I know you a little better." He grinned, and Kaoru smiled back.

"I'm glad too."

Kai huffed. "All of you, out. Kaoru needs to rest now, and we need to stop interfering. We'll bring dinner back for you," He assured the girl in the hospital bed.

Kai turned to leave the room and Kaoru smiled. "You said you were worried about me."

"Did I?" He looked over his shoulder.

"Mmhmm."

"Oh well…that's because," Kai turned away again and looked down at the ground at his feet, "we're um, friends…I guess."

The eyes of the bladebreakers collectively widened.

A grin spread across Kaoru's face that threatened to split it. It was the first time he'd ever admitted as much in front of anyone other than her.

"Right?" Asked Kai, after a moment of silence.

"Of course!" She answered immediately.

Kai turned to her and, careful not to meet the eyes of his other team mates, he smiled. "Good job in the match, it was really well played…apart from nearly dying." Kaoru smirked, "Try to get some rest." Kai told her, "You used a lot of energy."

"Aye aye captain."

He gave her a short wave, which she responded to with another face splitting grin before he turned and left his stunned team to wonder if they'd just witnessed the apocalypse.

* * *

Ok, yeh, author notes have died. Anything you don't understand let me know.

Hope that was to everyone's liking and not too boring in the whole battle bit. This is a scene I've wanted to write forever and I'm actually pretty happy with the way it turned out. And, OMG...no cliffhanger! I swear it's a first XD

VERY NEARLY AT THE END OF PART 1! WOO!! Again, let me know any KaixKaoru scenes, or fluffy random crap you want to see happen. There's room for it in the next part, and I'd love to be able to include something you're keen to see.

Anyho. I suppose before I let you go I should just mention the annoying, pest of an angel who's all but held me at gunpoint to get this finished. If you're glad to see this chapter, AngelicallyChaotic is the one you should thank for constantly hanging over my shoulder asking 'How much have you done since we last talked? Where are you up to? How much more have you got to do?' ect. -glares- Nuisance.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for some good reading check her stuff out, k?

So, please review XD Remember! More reviews equals more inspiration equals more writing XDD It's really true! And…um…naked Kai plushies for reviewers! Woo!


	12. Rules, Truths, and Dancing

Somehow I find this story gets written most when in fact I should be doing other things. The last chapter I finished off instead of doing my extended chem. write out, now I'm finishing this one instead of studying for my midyears and my maths methods sac.

Which I think is fair. After all, which would you rather be doing? Dabbling in fantasy or sketching composite logarithmic functions? XD Yeah. That's right.

Just wanted to note before we start that there's a certain incident involving Kaoru in the first chunk of this chapter that may cause you some concern, but let me state again, this is a KaixKaoru story. So don't worry.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. It's great to know that there are still people enjoying this. So, here it is, and I apologise for not having it out sooner but I've been busy, uninspired and busy again. Hope you

enjoy!

* * *

**Rules, Truths, and Dancing.**

Kaoru opened her eyes and was not met with the ceiling she had expected. Nor in fact a ceiling at all, nor a sky, nor anything truly predictable. And yet, she probably could have predicted this. The endless expanse of galaxies and worlds that was the sky of the spirit world.

She made a sound of annoyance and her eyes narrowed to a frown, shoulders hunching in distaste. A short laugh came from behind her.

"Had to expect this." Said Aura, who was in her true form and happy and uncaring of their situation. Kaoru made another unhappy sound before snuggling deeper into the soft grass. "Who do you think it'll be?"

"Are you sure this isn't just a visit with Hajari?"

"No. But I doubt it. We did just break a pretty fundamental rule."

Kaoru sighed. "Oops."

"Don't show anyone the extent of your power. Don't tell anyone you're true nature. We agreed, remember?"

"I didn't hear you complaining to adamantly when we were fighting. And I didn't tell them did I? I just…ghosted over a bit of a half truth." She smiled.

Again Aura chuckled. "Well. I enjoyed showing off this once, but too much of that isn't good for either of us, and that still doesn't exempt that it was a rule we agreed to then disobeyed."

Kaoru sighed, still snuggled against the long grass, warmer than she should have been lying on the ground, and sleepy. "S'not like we just agreed yesterday. It was years ago that those rules were drawn up…they should…should be reviewed or something." She yawned and felt more than saw the smile on Auras face.

"By some sort of spirit committee?" She asked quietly.

Kaoru frowned. "Shut up."

"We're stuck with this dear. Doesn't matter how much we dislike it."

"Arg! Let me sleep already!" But sleep wouldn't come and it was silly to even attempt it when she was quite aware that her real body was already very much asleep back in the small hospital bed.

Minutes passed and in time she gave up, stood and wandered. There wasn't much to see. They'd been dropped at the edge of the world, close to where is disappeared into nothing but not so close as there'd be any chance of them accidentally walking off. The ground was healthy green grass and little white, pink and yellow flowers grew in patches across it, here and there trees broke up the landscape but as far as Kaoru could see it extended in a similar fashion infinitely. She knew it didn't though.

She sat on the grass when she was sick of exploring what little there was to explore, faced the end of the world, and waited.

She felt their presence long before she bothered to turn around. Two very strong spirits, seasonal spirits, she guessed. They were closest in rank and power to the Sun and Moon spirit and she knew Oujahi would never bother meeting her for the simply reprimand and smack on the hand she expected.

When they were close enough to warrant her attention she stood and turned, only she'd miscalculated and they were far closer than she'd thought, so close in fact that her attention spurred the smaller into a sprinting hug.

"Kaoru-chan!" Squealed the female spirit, whose pale green skin stood in stark, but pretty contrast with her bright pink hair. She leapt at the more normal looking girl in a puff of pink and petals and the two fell to the ground, Kaoru pinned by the taller spirit girl.

"Ar." Kaoru groaned as she got herself propped up on her elbows, "Basanti-" and began to address the girl when a pair of pink lips claimed her own. Kaoru sighed, long used to and accepting of the strange habit and kissed back gently.

"Oh Kaoru-chan!" Exclaimed Basanti as pulled herself away from the kiss and flung her arms around Kaoru's neck, causing them both to fall back on the ground, hard. "I've missed you so much! It's been too, too long!" She sobbed melodramatically, "You never visit or write, and I've been so, so lonely! Oh! Aura-chan!" And in the same instant she'd separated herself and was attacking Aura in a similar manner.

Kaoru looked over her shoulder to watch the two and smiled momentarily. When she looked forward again her eyes caught on the other spirit and she frowned.

"Talvir." She greeted coldly.

"Kaoru." He addressed her also, in a way that may have sounded polite to the unknowing ear but by leaving off the polite suffixes and prefixes spirits usually used for her, he'd intended to be offensive. Her frown deepened.

"Well." She began conversationally, "I keep thinking that my dislike for you will diminish with time, but you prove me wrong again."

"I do my best." He smiled and Kaoru nearly growled.

Talvir was the winter spirit, a tall and well-built man with pale skin and dark blue hair. Basanti was the spring spirit and in contrast slight and slim. The two of them generally travelled together in the spirit world and while Kaoru was quite close with Basanti, she detested Talvir.

"So." She began and tore her eyes away from Talvir. "To what do I owe the…" she paused and glanced back at the winter spirit and sneered, "…pleasure…"

"Oh, yes. It's a mystery really." Sneered the spirit right back.

"Now, now you too!" Scolded Basanti as she wandered back to them wrapped around Aura's arm. "Honestly, like children aren't they." She grinned at Aura and the girl smiled back pleasantly, though Kaoru knew quite well she shared her distaste for the winter spirit. "Now, Kaoru-bell," began Basanti and sat on the ground gracefully. "If you don't know why we're here, then I suggest some serious self reflection."

Kaoru smiled at the gentle sternness and sat too. "I used my powers."

"And not only that but you told that gaggle of humans about yourself!" Growled Talvir and sat down as well.

"No." Answered Kaoru calmly. "I told them about Aura. I told them about my bitbeast."

"Ha!" Scoffed the winter spirit. "Just how much ammunition do you want to give these people! They're not retarded. Feed them enough half-truths and they'll piece it together eventually. It's not that hard!"

"It's not that hard!? Talvir, most humans would laugh if you told them that spirits even existed! They're much less likely to believe…whatever I am! The chances of them believing, much less _working out_ the truth, is so incredibly small, I really think you're making a big deal out of this for nothing."

"This is a huge deal! Kaoru!" The man threw his hands and hit the ground. "No one will accept this! If you tell your friends they'll do one of two things: they'll think you're crazy, or they'll shun you. We agreed, you and I and all of the high spirits, that you would keep this secret from them for your safety, as well as for our own. We came up with rules that would ensure the safety of that secret! We -"

"Then the rules need revision!"

"What if you'd died?!"

"I used only a quarter of my power! I do know a thing or two now! I'm not a child anymore!"

"You are a child! You, in the grand scheme of things, your wisdom compared to ours, you are tiny! Infinitesimal! A speck! A mere babe compared to us! Don't you tell me 'you know, you know!' You know nothing!"

"I may not know about the world, about spirits. I don't doubt I know a laughably small fraction of what you do but if there is anything I do know, I know myself! I know what I am! And I know what I want!"

"And what do you want! Prey tell!"

"I want to be normal!"

The proclamation shrilled around the space deafeningly.

"I want to tell them everything, and show them everything and share a normal, open friendship! I want to fall in love and get married and have babies! But I know! I know I can't! I have no misconceptions about my abilities! And I will be good! Because I promised someone that no matter what I would keep living!"

Talvir didn't answer her. And Basanti, who had been standing near by, ready to intervene, instead hung her head.

"Now." Said Kaoru more calmly. "Tell me what you have to tell me. Quote me the rules. Reprimand me. Give me my warning from Oujahi; tell me Yuriyu's disappointed. And then let me leave and go back to the world where I belong." She met both their eyes and then turned away to observe the world. "I don't like it here. It feels…unhappy."

Basanti sighed and came up behind the girl and wrapped light green arms around her neck gently. "That's because love doesn't exist in this place. You must find it very…sterile, I imagine."

"It feels wrong." Whispered Kaoru softly.

"Spirits don't fall in love." Said Basanti, matter of factly, for it was a fact and an undeniable truth of the spirit world. But all the same her voice came out laced in bitterness and frustration, if only slightly.

"Sucks to be you." Mused Kaoru uncaringly, for while she would normally have been sympathetic to Basanti and felt deeply for the spirit who dreamt of an emotion she couldn't feel, right now she couldn't care.

"Sucks to be you." Basanti corrected. "Able to feel love, more so than most even, yet forbidden to have it."

Kaoru frowned and broke away from the spirit. "Again." She said, "Tell me what you must, do what you came to do and then let me go. I refuse to regret my actions, and I can't take them back. I want to go home."

Talvir sighed. "Always the problem child. Very well. I'm sure you know already that you've broken today two primary rules. You are not to ever demonstrate the full extent of your power-"

"I didn't!" Kaoru argued, "It was a quarter! Maybe a third!"

"The nature of your power. It is all the same." The girl pouted. "You are not to ever so much as _elude_ to what you truly are. Regardless of the beliefs of humans, regardless of the relative intelligence of your friends, which I agree would be quite minimal," Kaoru glared, "the information that you gave was far to much, and far to accurate for my liking."

Kaoru opened her mouth to protest but Talvir cut her off. "Oh, I know you didn't tell the whole truth, but what you said of Aura, even if you only spoke of her as your bitbeast, and spoke to them of her only, even though it was only a very small fraction of the truth, it was the truth. Even so much as a hint is too much Kaoru. We don't have the liberty of a second chance. Humans find out what you are and you're on the front of every newspaper, not to mention medical journal. You'd be experimented on, picked apart, scrutinized. People wouldn't care that you're basically built the same as any human. They'd search you for meaning. Use you for their own benefit and treat you as a mere object. Best-case scenario they'd worship you. You can't tell me you want that."

Kaoru frowned but could not argue with his logic.

"You're friends would leave you. If not in disgust then in fear. It's not worth it Kaoru. Chancing something like that is stupid."

He was right.

"I know…I know that." She whispered. "But I still…I can't regret it. And even if I could take it back I wouldn't." She looked up to meet his eyes before he could yell at her. "Please Tal," the name she'd called him by as a child, when she still liked him very much, slipped out without meaning, "I know the rules, I know the why's but I…I have to do this my way. I know myself. I have no delusions about what exactly I am…I don't like it…but I know it and I accept it. So trust me," she looked at Basanti briefly and repeated, "Please trust me, because I have to do this my own way."

"No Kaoru." It was Basanti who interrupted this time. "You can't. It's-"

"I know it's dangerous and I will use the rules you all set for me as a guide but…I can't lock myself away from the world. I'm not that type of person. I can't hide from people. I have friends. I have something that I love in beyblading. And I keep meeting more people and making more friends and I'm really happy…" She smiled, because it hadn't always been that way. "I'm happy Tal." The winter spirits eyes widened and then softened. Kaoru sighed and sobered. "I know…that it's very likely…that one day I will meet that person. My person. The person I would love who would love me. My 'one.' I know that likelihood, and I can't run away from it, I'm sorry."

The two spirits stared at her in concern and surprise, but did not move to speak.

"If that were to happen," Kaoru whispered, "Then I will take responsibility. I will do what needs to be done when that situation occurs."

"Even if it means telling that person you don't love them?" Asked Basanti.

Kaoru cringed but nodded. "Yes."

"If it mean leaving them?"

"Of course."

"Are you sure you could do that?"

That made Kaoru pause, but when she looked up at them there was no uncertainty in her eyes. "I would have to." She answered. "When that happens, I will do whatever it takes. I will not stain that persons hands with blood, I will not hurt my friends, I will not cause them tears. Like I already said, I promised someone long ago that no matter what, when that time came, I would turn away and continue living. I promised that I wouldn't throw my life away for that love. And I will honour that."

"When the time comes it won't be so easy."

"I know."

Talvir paused. "Are you sure about this Kaoru?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I know you two are only doing this for my own good, and I also know that what I've done today was too much, and too great a disregard for the rules. So in regards to that I will try to be more careful and more subtle in future. But at the same time I can't be bound as tightly as I am now, so much that I feel guilty when I'm hugging a male friend. Try to understand. Please. I've decided to live…so I have to be able to _live_."

Basanti nodded. "I understand. We'll talk to Oujahi, mention that you're older now. As long as you know what you've done today is not to be repeated it should be alright."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "Thank you…Basanti…Talvir." She looked at each spirit in turn and then smiled at them both.

"You can go." Dismissed Talvir quietly, and without looking at her. "Be careful."

"I will." He heard her say, and out of the corner of his eyes saw her and Basanti exchange a goodbye kiss. "Thank you again for understanding, really. And I'm sorry about today!" With that she took Aura's hand and lead the girl away.

"Worried?" Whispered Basanti when the girls were out of earshot.

"A little." Agreed Talvir and took the hand that gently nudged at his own, threading their fingers together.

"Oujahi won't be happy."

"Oujahi's never happy."

That made Basanti laugh. Talvir sighed.

He shook his head. "She's really grown up…hasn't she?" He whispered, as if astonished.

Basanti smiled happily and looked back at the retreating girls. "Which one?"

Talvir frowned, "What do you mean which one?"

* * *

Kaoru woke in her hospital bed to the light and warmth of the sun, coming through the slightly open curtains. She smiled. This was her world, where she belonged. Earth couldn't support Aura's body, except as a projection from her blade. Kaoru preferred it when the girl was beside her, like in the spirit world or in the cavern of her mind, but Basanti was right. The spirit world didn't suit her. It felt, as the spring spirit had said, sterile. Too controlled and too cold.

For that she was relieved to be back. What broke her heart was to be again without Aura. Having been connected to the spirits' mind while they bladed, and then to have been with her in the spirit world, it always came as a shock when they again had to part.

Kaoru felt very alone.

She sighed and looked out the window. It looked like a nice day. She wondered what time it was. The sun was yet low in the sky, so morning, but there was none of the pink light of daybreak, so not early.

The door opened and she turned around.

"Oh, Miss Kaoru! You're awake!" The nurse smiled. She was petite with mousy brown hair and lavender bangs that she had pinned back. "How are you feeling today?"

Kaoru blinked, then nodded. "Not too bad." She answered. And it was the truth. She hadn't really been damaged in the first place, just exhausted and beyond her limits. Any damage Aura had taken, and by association damage that she had taken, had dissolved when their connection was broken. She felt as though she may as well have been waking up in her own bed, for the amount she actually needed hospitalisation.

"We were really worried about you, you know!" Smiled the nurse as she walked over to check Kaoru's charts as well as her blood pressure, temperature and heart rate. "You slept for a much longer time than we'd estimated. We thought maybe you were heading for a coma."

Kaoru's jaw dropped. No way…Tyson had been…right? The girl bit her lip and looked out the window. She'd had no idea she'd used so much power that it had nearly pushed her to that extreme. "Wow…" she answered, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

The nurse laughed. "What are you apologising for! Although, next time maybe be a little more careful. You bladers are always getting yourselves banged up for this championship of yours. Personally I can't believe it's worth a near coma."

"It was." Kaoru answered immediately and the nurse looked up in surprise. "That match was anyway." She smiled. "Because I promised my team I'd win it."

The nurse blinked but smiled. "I see. Well! Speaking of your team, think you're up to a visit?"

They were here? "Of course!" Kaoru answered and was unable to stop a big grin from erupting. "I'm feeling so well I could go home now!"

The nurse laughed. "We'll see." She answered and walked to the door, opened it and beckoned to someone Kaoru couldn't see.

A second later Tyson was entering the room with Kai immediately in tow.

"Kaoru!" Her adopted brother was on her in a heartbeat, arms around her neck. And just a moment later he was being pulled off.

"Idiot! You're gonna hurt her!" Reprimanded Kai, and glared at the other boy who immediately blanched.

"Oh god!" He turned to Kaoru, "I'm so sorry Ru! I didn't think at all, I was just really excited to see you! Are you okay?"

Kaoru laughed happily. It was so good to see them both. "I'm fine! Don't be silly! I'm not sore at all, I don't even no why I'm still in hospital." She saw Kai open his mouth and smiled at him, "No, I'm not arguing, and I'll stay until I'm told otherwise, but I just mean that you can give me a hug if you want to." She turned back to Tyson, "Okay?"

The boy grinned and with no further encouragement needed wrapped himself around her again. She smiled and hugged him back.

"So you're really feeling alright?" Asked Kai.

"Really really. I feel 100% okay. I can't believe it was only a few days ago that the fight happened! Hey! When are we getting the trophy?"

"Tomorrow!" Tyson grinned at her. "It's so exciting Ru! We're all so proud of you! You did great!"

"Apart from nearly getting killed."

He laughed. "Apart from that."

"What about the hospital?" Kai asked, ignoring their excitement. "Is the bed comfortable? Are you eating enough? What about the service, and the nurses? Are they -"

"Kai." She cut him off and smiled. "It's fine. I'm fine. Really."

He frowned. "It's just…I…" He trailed off as he looked at her. Big blue eyes encouraging and reassuring. Telling him it would all be alright. He suddenly felt jealous of Tyson and wished he could so confidently demand a hug.

"Come here." Kaoru told him and he blinked. Had he said that aloud? But Tyson was looking a little confused too, so he guessed he hadn't and walked over to her, curious. When he stood beside her bed she beckoned him still closer so he lent over, and then in one fell swoop, she had him by the neck and was pulling him in close.

"Agh!" The surprise came out of his mouth in a cry. "Kaoru!" He was blushing now. "Come on, let go!"

"See?" She was smiling against his neck, "I'm fine! You don't have to worry so much about me Kai. I'm okay."

And while half of him felt silly, like a child being told, "don't be scared", mostly he just felt the rust of weight leaving his shoulders. She really was okay.

"Geez." He hissed, and rolled his eyes for good measure, but gently, he allowed himself to hug her back. Tyson he knew would watch and be surprised, but he had told them all yesterday that he and Kaoru were friends. So maybe they would just have to get used to things like this.

He pulled back soon, still unused to such expressions, but Kaoru only smiled.

"So…you're really not hurt at all?" Asked Tyson after a pause.

"No, not at all! I feel great…a little hungry but not bad!"

"Have you had breakfast?" Asked Kai.

Kaoru shook her head. "I've only just woken up."

"I'll go ask them to bring something in for you." He turned to leave.

"Ah…" Kaoru looked up at him a little guilty. "No, don't. I hate hospital food. I'll wait till I'm discharged. It shouldn't be too long."

Kai blinked, and looked at Tyson, who blinked back at him. Kaoru stomach grumbled.

"I'll go get something!" Announced Tyson over the noise and winked at Kaoru who blushed. "Would dumplings be okay? There's a place just on the corner?"

"Thanks." Kaoru smiled.

"You want some too Kai?"

The boy shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Well, I'll see you two in a little bit okay? Play nice now!" Tyson grinned and then left to procure the promised dumplings.

Kaoru smiled at Kai. "Thank you for yesterday."

"What about yesterday?" He asked and pointedly looked out the window. "Accusing you, yelling at you or making you bitbeast slap you?"

She ignored him, "Because you told them we were friends…I was really happy. Thanks."

The boy blushed. "Yeah…well…don't go thinking you can just steal hugs and stuff now…we're friends but, you know…I'm still me. You can't treat me like Tyson."

"I know."

"And about that other stuff, the accusing, and slapping…I'm sorry, ya know?"

Kaoru shook her head. "It wasn't your fault."

Silence settled between them momentarily then Kaoru sighed and broke it. "Hey Kai?"

"Yeh?" He turned to face her.

"Um, I've been meaning to tell you something for a while…"

The boy raised an eyebrow but otherwise was silent.

"Um…that is…I have…a confession I'd like to make." She whispered and glanced up at him. He looked at her too, calmly, and she blushed and looked back down. She twirled the bed sheet around a finger. Fiddling.

"What is it?"

She swallowed and then bit the bullet. "I, ah…wasn't a fake fangirl." She admitted in a rush. "I was a real one."

Silence was her response, but she refused to look up and see the disgusted expression she was sure he wore. She licked her lips and continued. "I…I really liked you a lot." She purposefully avoided saying love. "I worshipped the ground you walked on, I really thought…you were the most amazing person." Now that she'd started, the truths she'd kept from all of them so long flowed easily.

She looked up then and met his eyes. The expression he wore was not disgust, but it was not happiness either. He looked…worried. Maybe a little scared? Like almost the only thing he really wanted to do in that moment was be on the other side of the room with some sort of barrier separating him from her.

After all, what did Kai fear more than fangirls?

"Oh no!" She said at once, desperate to correct his assumptions, "I wasn't like them! Really! They…they all loved you for your looks and your body…but I…I just really…admired you. You were everything I wanted to be."

His eyes were now not scared, but confused. Kaoru bit her lip and looked back down. She had to explain this right.

"When I came back to Japan to watch the preliminary tournament all those years ago…despite not having seen Tyson for so long, and missing him so much…all I could look at was you. You…were everything I wanted to be…your beyblading style was just unbelievable."

Kai's eyes widened. His blading style?

"Every move, every play: calculated, evaluated, precise. No excess energy, no messing around. Easy and fluid and perfectly understood. I'd never seen anything like you. I was blown away." She whispered, remembering those first few moments she'd watched him as a much younger girl, and the pure awe she'd felt then. "You've lost to Tyson more than once, but I could never understand why. I always thought you were so much better than him. Better than everyone. I just…wow."

He suppressed a little smile at that.

"I really…I wanted to be just like you. You were my idol." She smiled, but still refused to look up at him. "So I joined the fangirls to follow you, to watch you blade. And I started to train harder. I wanted to get better so one day I might impress you. I'd go out after watching the matches, to a basketball court of a snowy field and train and train. I tried to model my style on yours, to be efficient and clever with my blading, but…it was never the same. So I trained my arms nearly to the point of breaking so I could have just one thing be great."

So…It was because of him that she was such an incredible blader?

She looked up at him then. "I did travel with them. They were my friends and I was one of them. I was your biggest fan….your fangirl. But I didn't…I wasn't like them…I…" She fumbled for words, "I wasn't trying to get into your pants, I just admired you!"

Kai let out a snort of laughter at the analogy, which in turn made Kaoru laugh quietly. It broke the tension and suddenly they were just smiling at each other.

"I'm sorry," she smiled at him, "that I didn't tell you when we first met. But you have to admit, if I'd told you back then you probably would have run a mile." Kai nodded his affirmation. "So, I don't regret keeping it a secret. But I just wanted to tell you the truth because…we're friends. Do you…regret making friends with me now?"

This seemed to throw Kai for a loop. He went very quickly from smiling at her to looking very surprised and a little taken aback.

"No!" He denied at once. "No…I'm a little, ah, shocked, I'll admit, but…I know you, and we're friends, and like you said, it's not like your sole goal in life has been getting in my pants,"

"Only secondary goal." She filled in. He gave her a worried look, "I'm joking Kai."

"Right…" He agreed slowly and then continued, "Actually, I feel a little bad. Just thinking that all that time I didn't notice you, when you've always been watching me. I feel like I should have seen you too, and gone over and said hi or something."

For a few moments Kaoru just stared at him, and then she smiled. A really, truly, genuine smile, that curved her eyes as much as her mouth, and caused the blue depths to sparkle. "You know," She whispered, "I always would think when I was young that, out of every person on earth, you were the one I most wanted to know. And I was right and…you still are. Thank you Kai. If we could keep being friends, it would make me more happy than you can imagine."

Kai paused a moment and then let out a laugh combined with a breath and looked out the window.

"What kind of girl have I gotten myself involved with?"

* * *

On the TV in the hotel room, the closing ceremony of the Beijing Bey-tournament played on mute. The bladebreakers themselves were fussing around the small space, packing for the return flight the next day. It didn't matter. There was no information in the delayed broadcast that they hadn't been told at the event.

They'd won the tournament and been presented with the trophy. Their match had been quickly reviewed on the big screen and Kaoru had been cheered for the victory that she'd so spectacularly procured, but subsequently been unconscious for. Both final teams - themselves and the white tigers - would continue to a second round tournament.

The Bladebreakers would compete next in New York, America, whilst the White Tigers would compete in London, England. From these two tournaments, and from several others occurring in different locations around the world, the two finalist teams would then proceed to the 3rd and final branch of the tournament to be held at a yet un-disclosed location.

Max was thrilled of course. The chance to meet up with his mother and also his friends, the All Stars had driven him to become an almost constantly grinning fool, who practically skipped as he walked and hummed happily to himself. Kaoru and Hilary were happy too, New York was a Fashion Capital of the world after all.

Then Mr. Dickenson had gone on to announce possibly the most exciting piece of news Hilary had ever heard. There was a dance being held for the bladers of the Beijing Tournament.

She had chatted about it almost all the way through dinner the previous night before Tyson had questioned what she'd do for a dress. Then she'd scoffed and miraculously produced one, which she had with her for reasons unknown, from the depths of her luggage. She'd organised to borrow shoes from Kaoru, and then gone to bed to get her 'beauty sleep'.

Hilary and Kaoru had gone for manicures; pedicures, gossip and coffee that morning, before a "stubbornly not understanding male captain" (as Hilary put it) had called them back at 4 to pack.

At 5 Kaoru was finished and, sighing, turned off the TV broadcast and went in search of company. The dance didn't start until 8 and it would certainly not take her 3 hours to get ready.

She found Kai in the kitchen making a sandwich for himself.

"Want one?" He asked, without looking up and she nearly started in surprise.

"Shit…what are you? Mr. Super-hearing?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Going once…"

"Yes please!" She smiled and sat across from him.

"Don't suppose you're capable of making sandwiches are you?"

"Mmm…I'm not good at it." She admitted, "But I don't tend to blow things up."

"Well, that's always a good place to start." He remarked dryly and she laughed.

He pushed the sandwich he'd been making across to her and started on another one for himself. She snuck a peak inside. Bacon, lettuce and tomato, one of her favourite kinds.

"We have bacon?" She grinned.

"Had." He mumbled, "For breakfast on the morning you were in the hospital. That's your portion left over. Ray stopped Tyson from eating it."

"Ah! You had bacon and eggs without me? Not cool."

"I take it you've finished packing?"

"Yep."

"Didn't take you long."

"Yeh…I'm pretty awesome." She said easily, stare vacant and sandwich half in her mouth.

"And you're not getting ready for the dance?" He looked up now, finally finished his own sandwich, which she thought she recognised as tuna, and now looked her easily right in the eyes. "Thought you girls took hours."

She shrugged. "Meh. Just have to put on a dress and a little make up…"

Kai raised a brow. "Odd. You don't seem excited. How very unlike you."

Had she not known Kai quite as well, she may have dismissed the statement. But instead she heard the question, disguised behind a veil of nonchalance, and answered it. "I've been to so many dances. The romance gets lost after a while."

"Very understandable." Nodded Kai approvingly. "I used to too when I was living with grandfather. Every damn week, sometimes more than once a week even! Trying to show me off as the good 'heir to his legacy'. Making me dance with snobby rich girls." He scrunched up his nose. "I used to hate it."

Kaoru smiled.

"What?" Frowned Kai when he saw her face. "You think it's funny?"

She shook her head. "No. Not really. I can't imagine you being all cordial to a bunch of rich show-offs, must have been really tough for you. I'm sorry you're grandfather made you do that."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"I'm just happy." She grinned. "Cause you're telling me stuff about you with out me dragging it out of you…or, you know, sobbing on you in my bedroom..."

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Really." She smiled more gently now, and set her chin on an arm on the bench. "I'm happy."

"You get happy about stupid things then."

She stuck out her tongue.

"Good sandwich?"

"Mm." She nodded. "Wanna be my date tonight Kai?"

That made him not so much pause as just completely stop, bread frozen travelling to a still open mouth. He blinked and a moment later put the food back on the plate and swallowed.

"I didn't think this thing required dates."

"If you had a date no other girl would be allowed to bother you…" She sung seductively and for a second that did sound like a very nice idea.

"If I had a date, or rather, if you were my date, you know neither of us would ever live it down with the others."

"I'm not hearing a nooo…" She sung again, and smirked at him.

"No. I, for one, have a sense of self-preservation. Besides, no offence Kaoru, but we're just barely friends. I promised to _try _to be nice to you. I never said anything about…dates."

"Aw…" Whined Kaoru, but did not feel disheartened. She hadn't been entirely serious herself, and knew he knew that. And also, despite his outward refusal she had the unwavering sense that if there had been no one to pass judgement he most likely would have said yes. "We wouldn't have to tell them! I could just mysteriously turn up on your arm."

"Mysteriously?"

"Yep."

"Well…" He hesitated, and then gave up. "If you were mysteriously turning up on my arm then why would I have to agree to it? It's a free country."

That made her grin in a way that nearly split her face. It was undeniably an invitation! Kaoru began to sit up but, as she did so, a whirlwind with brown hair sped into the room.

"Kaoru!" Announced Hilary, "Help! What shade of eye shadow?"

Both Kaoru and Kai halted entirely, and gaped at the sudden, frantic intrusion.

"Brown." Kaoru answered with surprised efficiency.

"Curly or straight?" Hilary asked, and indicated her hair.

"Curly." Confirmed both Kaoru and Kai this time, and Kaoru glanced over to give the boy a quick, approving smile.

"Lipstick or gloss?"

"Um…"

"Bronzer or blush? Liquid or pencil eyeliner? Coat or wrap? Jewellery or not?"

Kaoru blinked, Kai looked confused and Hilary scoffed.

"Come with me." And like that the brown haired whirlwind picked her up and dragged her to the bathroom.

The girls weren't sighted again until nearly 7:30. The boys stood around the doorway in an anxious and annoyed sort of way, checking their watches and rolling their eyes. When the girls did reappear it was to gaping mouths.

Or at least Tyson's gaping mouth. Max's lips parted slightly and his eyes widened, as did Rays. Kai just stood up from the wall he had been leaning on, as if to show respect to the dressed up versions of his female teammates.

Hilary wore a pretty white satin dress that accentuated her breasts and synched her waist. The skirt was well crafted and flared outwards, sculpted internally with finer than average tulle.

Her hair fell in tight ringlets and she'd pinned one side back with a white flower hairpiece. Her lips were pink, and her eye shadow copper and she wore a pair of strappy gold, diamonty, shoes. A princess fit for a ball!

Kaoru was a contrast to her. The older girl wore a bright, electric blue dress. It had a high, wide, 60's neckline, and was see-through to just above the bust. The design was form fitting, and rather short, and ruffles circled the length of it defining her hips and bust.

She'd pinned her bangs back, and it was the first time the others had seen her hair like that. The rest fell in loose waves down her front and back. Her eyes were tinged just silver and her lips were red. A pair of silver stilettos completed the outfit.

Tyson's focus was on Hilary, naturally, as was a tentative Ray's and Max's, the satin dress really did wonders, but Kai looked at Kaoru. The blue and silver details were perfectly suited to her, they made her eyes stand out. And the subtlety of the see through chiffon…it made her look just a little bit coy. A challenge.

He felt he should tell her she looked nice, after all, Tyson was practically slobbering over Hilary, but it was a very un-him thing to do…All the same he swallowed a little, and tried. "The dress suits you." A statement, not a compliment. He tried again. "You look good."

It would not win an award, but it was about the best compliment he could manage, being who he was, and not at all willing to sacrifice that. She seemed to understand that and smiled.

He looked good too. He wore a very plain, tailored, black suit jacket, dark blue, skinny leg jeans that no one would complain about, and a black dress shirt with very fine white pinstripes. Max and Tyson wore ties but Kai and Ray had gone without, and Kai had his shirt un-buttoned a little, with just enough skin shown to hint at his impressive body.

"You look good too." She answered.

"Ah! The apocalypse, the apocalypse!" Tyson suddenly proclaimed. And both Kaoru and Kai spun around in surprise.

Tyson was hiding behind Ray who looked a little annoyed at the situation, but Tyson was grinning. "Run, hide! The apocalypse is coming, Kai just complimented someone."

Kaoru just let out a frustrated groan as she moved to get into the car. The others rolled their eyes and followed.

"You're an idiot Tyson." Remarked Kai, before he joined them.

And the boy who still had his cap on (and would probably fight the event managers who tried to take it) sighed in profound relief at the insult, and remarked:

"And so too did the world return to the way it was intended."

* * *

The dance hall was beautiful. Just like a scene of a palace from a fairy tale, it was all marble staircases, pillars and floors. There was a DJ and a dance floor, food along one wall, and beautifully laid tables along the other. Out side the back wall, which was made so completely of windows it might as well have been of glass, was a big, square pool, with underwater lights that made it glow fluorescent blue in the dark night.

Hilary squealed and ploughed down the stairs with Tyson still connected to her arm.

Kaoru chuckled as Max squealed in imitation of the girl and grabbed Ray mockingly to follow. "Looks like she's going to have fun." Commented Kaoru and smiled.

"Won't you?" Asked Kai, still walking beside her.

"Of course!" Grinned the girl and took the chance to mysteriously turn up on his arm by wrapping her own around it.

Kai glanced down at their interwoven arms and frowned. He lifted the limbs and shook them in what could only be described as a very non-committal attempt at getting her to let go.

"What?" She laughed, "I'm mysteriously turning up right?"

"This isn't mysteriously," he grumbled and glared at her, "This is overtly if anything."

"Oh? What then? Should I wait until we're in a quiet, dark, deserted room before taking your arm? Really Kai, there'll be time for that later. That's only the secondary goal remember?" She chuckled and winked at him.

The boy gaped at her in surprise and worry and she had to laugh out right at the seriousness of his expression.

"I was joking Kai! Joking! Gosh." She smiled at him, having calmed somewhat. "Come on, let's go find the others."

They found the bladebreakers at the same time that the bladebreakers found the White Tigers. More specifically, at the same time that Hilary launched herself at Mariah. They hadn't had the time to catch up with any of the other teams since the final match and the brief conversation in the hospital thereafter. They'd all been at the closing ceremony of course, but all it had really involved was their lining up and coming briefly to collect the trophy. Afterwards they'd left promptly, Kai and Kenny eager to organise transport and accommodation to and from their next destination.

"Kaoru!" Called Mirra as the girl neared them, but it was Renna who walked forward and Kaoru moved quickly to grab her in a hug.

"How are you feeling?" Asked the blond, pulling away after only a moment, and holding her friend at arms length. "We've been so worried! Are you okay? Not too hurt? I'm so sorry I used that attack on you Kaoru! I shouldn't have, when you fainted I felt so bad!"

"I'm fine!" Kaoru cut her off and grinned, "Really! And please don't apologise Renna, it wasn't your fault at all! It was my own technique that drained my energy so badly, -"

"But if I hadn't made you use it - "

"Stop it. You were too strong. In the end it probably would have come to that anyway. Please don't feel bad. It was my own mistake. A silly one. I should have known better and I won't use that technique again, it's too dangerous. If anything it's me who should be apologising to you for attacking you with that. I'm really sorry Renna. If I hadn't promised my team I would win, I would never have done that to you."

"Which is Kaoru's way of saying, it's not your fault, it's ours!" Grinned Tyson and slung an arm around his best friends shoulder. Kaoru's eyes widened,

"Tyson - "

"I'm kidding." He smiled. "Come on. Who cares who's at fault? You both battled brilliantly, but, in the end, we Bladebreakers just whooped your buts is all!"

"Hey!" Objected Lee and smirked, "If I remember, you were the only one who lost to us Tyson!"

The boy blanched and the Bladebreakers and White Tigers laughed at him and things returned to normal.

The Elites came over next, offering hugs and congratulations, then Mr. Dickenson, and eventually, when all the other teams had said their "well done"s and asked Kaoru if she was alright, they sat down to eat. They shared the table with the White Tigers and talked happily about the next leg of the tournament and hoping to meet each other at the finals.

After Tyson had finished his fourth helping, Hilary had become so fed up she'd forcefully dragged him up from his seat and over to the dance floor. They'd all laughed, and then Mariah had offered her hand to Ray, who'd smiled and taken it, and they'd gone to. And as though the floodgates had broken, the small space was suddenly full of people, light, movement and noise.

Kaoru embedded herself deep in the crowd, and by a happy coincidence happened upon the tall, dark haired Makan in the midst of it. She'd been warned the boy was a player, but for a single dance, on a single night, it hardly mattered, and she gladly let the boy take her hips and the beat take her thoughts.

She stayed there in the throbbing crowd for maybe half an hour, before, panting but happy, she excused herself and pushed her way out. A waiter passed her with champagne on a tray and she smiled and took too. There was no legal drinking age in Beijing, which was a fact they'd all been encouraged to take advantage of since the tournament was over.

She downed half her glass quickly and then scanned the walls for a familiar face. Kai sat back behind their table still. He had his phone to his ear and was talking with pursed lips to the person on the other end. She smiled, and went to sit beside him.

"Yeah. I know. It's terribly exciting." Grumbled Kai sarcastically into the receiver. "Well. That depends entirely on whether you pass the second round now doesn't it? Remember you don't have me to dig you out of the shit you get yourself into." He took the champagne she offered and rolled his eyes at the phone, provoking a larger smile to form on her face. "Yeah yeah. I'm sure you'll do fine, just don't go making the reservations yet okay? At least let the 2nd round get sort of underway. --. Yeah, good luck to you too. Take care of yourself. -. K, I will. Bye." He hung up.

"Who was that?" Asked Kaoru curiously and snatched a nibbly off of Ray's plate.

"Tala." Replied Kai, and downed a gulp of his drink. "The Demolition Team won the first round, and they're off to Paris, France for the second, so naturally he's already planning what we'll do when we're in the 3rd round together, as if it could be foreseen at all!" He scoffed and Kaoru laughed.

"It's cute." She smiled and Kai snorted and frowned. "Why the Demolition Team? Wasn't it the Demolition Boys before?"

Kai grinned, "They've got girls now. Had to add a few to meet with the new rules, like us it seems." He gave Kaoru a pointed look.

"Hey! Nothing wrong with us girls! Who won your championship huh? Wasn't Tyson."

Kai just shook his head. "For someone who doesn't particularly care for dances you don't seem to mind dancing." He stated, and directed a questioning look at her.

She huffed, "Diverting the topic." She commented, but relented and answered his question. "It gets old when you've done it enough, I'm sure you know that better than anyone. But I was never made to dance with snobby rich girls like you were. The first dance I went to when I was 12 and it was with friends in France." Kai rolled his eyes but Kaoru ignored him, "The wounds from leaving home were still fresh and sore. I didn't know how to dance but the girl who had taken me there was fifteen at the time, and she dragged me right into the heart of the dance floor, and told me to let it take me. Which I did.

"It's a feeling I've never forgotten, being taken away from yourself…and forgetting you exist. All your problems vanish, you can't hear yourself think. It's lovely. I've done it so much it's not exciting, per se, but it's not something I dislike. Sometimes it helps me feel just a little less crazy. And that's nice."

"You're not crazy." Kai huffed, but was not able to muster much else. He was a little shocked by her honesty and didn't know which sadness she'd just expressed to try to sooth first. "Why did you tell me that?"

She startled, and broke away from the quiet moment she'd been having in her head. "You told me about dancing with those girls…it was…good to have you talk about yourself with out being prodded into it." She grinned now.

Kai had very little to say to that. He didn't like talking about himself, but the titbit about dancing with the girls his grandfather pushed him on hadn't seemed a big deal. Apparently to Kaoru it had been, and he would have to remember that such small truths about himself would be greatly appreciated by her in future.

"Do you wish you could forget you exist?" He asked because the moment she'd mentioned it, the question had been waiting on his tongue.

Her smile faded a little but didn't disappear. "I think occasionally we all do."

"You more than others? Perhaps?" It was an uneasy line of questioning, but ever since the finals match, since her fight with Aura, and since their talk the morning in the hospital he'd found himself abundantly aware of something.

"Perhaps." She agreed and the smile stayed, though it was bitter now.

"I'd be a fool not to notice you're different Kaoru." He knew he was skating on thin ice now, and her vanished smile, clenched jaw and total focus on the dance floor instead of on him was proof. "They might not see it, or might take it in passing, but the beybattle? Aura?" He trailed off and watched her carefully.

For a moment she said and did nothing, and then with a sigh she sat down across from him and propped her elbow on the table, chin in her hand and frowned. But she did meet his eyes and that was an improvement.

"Yeah." She admitted. "You're not an idiot. I won't pretend you are. But Kai, you can poke and prod till you're blue in the face, you won't get anything out of me you haven't already." She paused, and then turned and snagged Tyson's glass, which still sat on the table half full of champagne, and downed it. "You can accept me like this, or you can not accept me."

He glared at her and that made her smile again. He didn't even need to say it; he'd accepted her already. It was done.

"Was this a night you wanted to forget you exist?" He asked carefully.

She looked away briefly and paused to consider it. "Every night I do…a bit. But yeah. Tonight too, the beybattle, aura and the hospital. Reminders I don't need. It's nice to forget for a moment."

Kai frowned. "Kaoru-"

She cut him off by shaking her head. "Stop it. I can see you worrying." She insisted and smiled at him, "There's a difference between not wanting to exist, and enjoying being able to forget for a moment. I'm not a suicide risk, "she winked, "I just conform to the ignorance-is-bliss mindset, and I like bliss as much as the next person. You understand don't you?"

Perhaps better than she could know. Always in biovolt he had needed to live, needed to know that one day he would be free to exact his revenge on his grandfather. That did not mean that the moments of exhausted unconsciousness weren't welcome breaks from his reality. He could sympathise.

"I do." He agreed.

Then she smirked, and took her turn at steering the conversation into new and uncharted depths.

"So, Kai-kun. Up for a dance?"

"Congratulations, you're officially mad."

She laughed.

"Come on! Don't be such a stick in the mud! I'm your date aren't I?"

"Are you?" He questioned in surprise, eyebrows raised. "I was under the impression you were just some strange girl who had mysteriously turned up on my arm?"

"Kaiii…" She whined, but was, in truth, enjoying the return of his teasing, joking side.

Before he could respond, Ray was flopping down next to him, and Tyson and Hilary beside Kaoru. Max paused and then with no further hesitation pulled himself up and sat on the table, the effort of adding another chair to their expanding circle, one to great for his dance weary body.

"I saw you dancing with Makan, Kaoru." Hilary gushed almost at the same time her bottom hit the chair. "What was he like? Is he nice? Did he ask you out?" She leaned closer, "Did he come onto you?"

"Yeah! Why were you dancing with that guy?" Tyson questioned almost as rapidly as Hilary did.

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Oh please. He's a player, I know, but he's hot, and it's one dance on one night."

Tyson grumbled something that sounded like 'more like seven dances,' but he couldn't fault her logic and didn't try. Hilary just sighed like it was something terribly romantic.

"And Rays almost worse than Makan himself!" Max laughed, and the black haired boy blushed slightly. "How many girls _have_ you danced with tonight Ray?"

"A few." He admitted and while Kai just raised his eyebrows in amusement, Kaoru grinned and leaned in for more information.

"Well let's see." Max went on. "There was Mariah first, then Sophie, that big breasted girl on the Elites, then Mirra, then Mariah again, then you stole Pats girlfriend Abi, then Hilary, then one of Kais fan girls, then Sophie again, and then I lost count."

Ray at least had the decency to look embarrassed, and Hilary a little too. "Actually there were a couple more, and I danced with Sophie before the fangirl." He corrected, which made them all laugh. "And look at who's talking Max! I, personally, didn't take note of whom you danced with tonight, but whoever it was, clearly you were doing it while looking over your shoulder at me! Do I need to get a restraining order, Mr. Stalker?"

Max was the one to flush red now, and they shared another good-natured laugh at his expense before Kaoru remembered what exactly their arrival had stalled.

"Oh! No fair!" She whipped around to Kai who suddenly looked more than a little worried. "Don't you go thinking you're off the hook just cause they turned up mister! I want my dance." She stood up and offered him her hand, "Come on!"

He just frowned.

"Oh Kai, please!" She begged, and didn't want to resort to kneeling on the floor in front of him but would if it came to that.

"Forget it."

"Come on Kai," grinned Max, "I'd like to see you dance."

"Stalker." Commented Ray and earned himself a napkin to the face.

"Go dance with Ray or something Kaoru, I don't like dancing."

"Kaoru and I already danced." Grinned Ray. "And she's not too bad might I add."

"Player." Commented Max, and got his napkin retuned.

Kai wasn't sure why Ray's confession of having danced with Kaoru bugged him, but it did. And it annoyed him more that Ray had enjoyed it and that Kaoru had smiled a little at him upon the mention of it. But he wasn't going to let that persuade him.

"Then go dance with,"

"I've already danced with Tyson and Max, and Hilary for that matter too. I want to dance with you."

The simple, honest request, and her blue eyes and slight pout made it awfully hard, but he managed to refuse her again. "Can you imagine what this one would say if he saw me dancing?" He asked and pointed grumpily at Tyson, who stuck out a tongue.

"Oh, so your afraid?" Joked Tyson with a smile, and Kai scowled.

"Idiot." He hissed, "The are-you-afraid joke is the oldest in the book. I'm not so easily mislead as you."

Tyson scowled and Ray sighed, "You know, if you can't dance you should just say so Kai. We wouldn't press it if that was the case."

Kai looked at him with eyes bulging. "I'm a fine dancer thank you. I just don't enjoy the act."

"Kai, it's fine." Insisted Ray. "Not everyone can dance. It's like swimming or blading, some don't have the talent. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but if we knew you couldn't, we wouldn't force you."

"I can dance just fine!" Growled Kai and somewhere, in his growing frustration, had flung a hand out that had by chance connected with Kaoru's and she'd needed no further encouragement.

She took the hand firmly and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go prove it shall we?" She grinned, and dragged him away to the dance floor with her.

"…Oi…OI! Kaoru!" The bladebreakers smiled as they sounds of Kais protests got swallowed by the music.

Ray smirked. "When insulting their courage doesn't work," he began, "their dancing skills are the logical fall back." And he and Tyson high-fived.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED!

Yes. DMA is still ongoing. Slowly ongoing. Lol.

Next chapter is the end of part one of the story, and we'll start to move towards the second leg of the tournament. I know a few of you might be disappointed that the first kiss Kaoru had in the story was not only with a spirit (and not Kai), but a female spirit! Like I stated at the top, the story is KaixKaoru, so don't worry AND:

I can disclose at this state that there will be, not one, but MULTIPLE kisses next chapter. Between who you'll have to read to find out. I'm not telling . (But they're good ones, I promise XD)

So, please, pretty, pretty, please with a cherry on top and lots of whipped cream and chocolate Kai sprinkles **please review**. Every time I sit down to write, I read a review or two first because it makes it feel worthwhile. If there's no one to write for there's no reason to write, so let me know you're there!

Review! (and I'll have Kai feed you a chocolate Kai-sprinkles Sunday XD)


	13. Breathe

**Weeeeeeelll…IT'S BACK!! **Bahahah. -.-

FINALLY! The end of part one! I AM SO HAPPY!!! XDDD And for once I wrote this without using it as an excuse to avoid schoolwork like I normally do ¬¬ ­ Well. I'm proud X3

**Please Note: **The song in this chapter is "Out and In", by Kate Miller-Heidke, you might want to pop onto youtube ;)

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH, to everyone who reviewed. I really am so grateful for your encouragement! This chapter is for all of you, please enjoy ^^

* * *

**Breathe.**

Kaoru had known Kai was not very much like anyone else. It held true as he waited on the dance floor for her to pick a song from the DJ. While any other boy, who had been dragged to the centre of the dance floor by his ecstatic team-mate, may have stood there awkwardly, attracting raised eyebrows and whispers (especially if that boy was infamous as a cold, uncaring captain), the icy cold glare on Kai's face exempted him from that completely.

Instead of staring and perhaps sharing a whisper or chuckle, the people on the dance floor around him had stopped, caught his murderous eye, and humbly (and fearfully) stepped back. Which may not, in fact, have been a good thing because now Kai had a wide birth around him and people were watching to see if anything would transpire within it.

The cold glare and fearfully distance made for a funny picture when Kaoru burst through the ring of people and bounded happily over to her stoic captain.

Kai glared.

He wouldn't have gone at all if she hadn't dragged him. And he wouldn't have stayed, but he knew leaving would be more embarrassing at this point. She'd turned to him and quietly promised they would do a classical dance, which he was grateful for because he honestly didn't know how to jump-to-the-beat, as was the popular trend. Then she'd moved away to find the DJ.

Now she stood a few paces from him and the loud, fast paced, dance music was fading away.

He wanted to run, hated the crowd for gathering around them, and his team for watching. But Kai was not a man to back down.

"So?" Asked Kai, "Hesitation waltz, or Viennese or…"

Kaoru shook her head and for just a second Kai's heart sank, he'd just assumed they'd be waltzing…cowardly or not he was going to turn and sprint if she wanted something ridiculous like a tango!

"I hate steps." Kaoru frowned and extended a hand towards him, "I can take a lead. Do what you want, I'll follow."

Kai was not convinced. He'd danced with very few girls who could follow well, independent of dance steps. It meant more than just watching movement and following. It meant being able to pick up a very subtle change, knowing what it meant and how to respond, all within the space of about half a second.

Then the music started and Kai forgot his worry in his surprise. It was not traditional waltz music but instead a slow, melodious, piece of pop culture music, with a strange rhythm and a count that did not go 1,2,3,4, but rather rose and dipped, with soft pauses and brief inclines.

Kai had hated dancing, the pushy, snobby girls and monotonous music that turned over, and over itself. This was different. The music didn't bore him to tears, and Kaoru was not a rich airhead.

He took her hand and suddenly, despite years between his last dance and this one, was back in the mindset. Without his control his foot went back behind him and he bowed to her. He was a little embarrassed to have done it until he looked up and she was curtsying.

He smiled at that, which provoked a smile on her face. When they both stood he pulled her lightly forward. She took the hint and stepped up close before letting his hand go to rest her own on his shoulder. He retook her other hand and grasped her shoulder too.

There was the briefest pause, and then the lyrics started and he stepped away and she followed.

_You loomed up slowly on the horizon _

_Blocking the sun like an ocean liner_

_When I discover I'm living in your shadow_

_It always comes as a surprise_

It was not a love song, which was another thing to be grateful for. Rumors were already going to start from this dance, and there would be no need to aggravate them. Another thing to be thankful for was that Kaoru had not been lying. She could take a lead. She followed his steps well, not even a half beat behind.

He turned them once, twice, around the space they'd created on the dance floor, and when he felt confident in the way she moved and followed him he took a quick step forward, lifted his arm, and she spun under it easily and pirouetted.

When she came back around she was smirking. She took his shoulder again and he led them in another circuit of the floor, all the while studying her expression. The quirked brow and mischievous turn of her lips was a challenge. It said, "I hope you didn't think I couldn't handle a pirouette". And it made him want to find something she couldn't.

_But way up here_

_I'm spinning around a lamppost in the rain _

_Way up here, I remember rain_

_And I'm whispering directly into your ear_

He leant in quickly, much to Kaoru's surprise, and out right grinned. Challenge accepted.

Then with a quick movement he lifted him arm again and she slipped under it, but he did not lower it and as she came around he flicked his wrist slightly and spun her another time, and then another and another. Kaoru let out a chuckle just as soon as she understood he was planning to dance her around the circuit spinning.

Her heels clicked across the floor and the ruffles of her dress fanned out, but Kaoru knew how to turn. The music was slow, so she did not rush the pirouettes and each time they came face to face their eyes met. His challenging but warm, and her own joyous and shining. Every time around she studied crimson eyes she'd always dreamed of seeing up close, and he searched blue eyes he'd never known existed.

She was so happy to dance with him, so happy he would dance with her. She loved the challenge of the continuous pirouetting, but loved even more this playful Kai that so rarely came out.

_You are perfecting circular breathing_

_I can't always tell when you're inhaling_

_So you make it look like you're always giving_

_But you're always storing little bits away_

_You're a bit away_

_But way up here_

_I'm dancing around a lamppost in the rain_

_Way up here_

_It's pouring down_

_And I'm saying right into your ear _

At a moment of pause in the music, when she was half way through a spin but had halted briefly with the rhythm, Kai caught her free hand. She didn't immediately know the move, but let herself be pulled against him, her back pressed to his front.

At the front Kai folded their arms and pressed their palms together, at the back he held her hand in a traditional grip, bent at the elbow. And then, in the same slow, disjointed flow the music had, he began to turn her again, and turned with her.

Kaoru blushed; it was like he'd just patiently taught her a new move right in the middle of the dance floor. It felt private, and special, and she was faintly embarrassed, but also very happy.

_What does it take?_

_To stop getting carried away by the force of my love_

_You take my breath away_

_I'm starting to suffocate_

_Break the outline of my body_

_Break where I end and you begin_

_Break, you came too far in_

_And out and in, and doubt and din again_

"You're not bad Kai." She conceded when they'd made a couple of turns in the new position perfectly.

"Kind of you to notice," He smirked and leaned over her shoulder a little, "You are _much_ less painful to dance with than the girls in Russia."

The half compliment made her laugh.

"Thought this wasn't a love song…" Muttered Kai distastefully.

"Oh. My bad." She chuckled. "Just thought it would be a departure from your classic stuff."

"The media will have a field day."

"Let them. We're not together, and so long as you don't go around kissing me in public, the rumors will disappear soon enough."

"So then, in private it's ok?" He knew he shouldn't encourage her, but it was too easy an opportunity.

She laughed out right and looked back over her shoulder to grin at him.

_Every time we breathe out_

_We let out a little bit of ourselves_

_It'd be alright if we could exchange_

_But you don't want to_

_And I don't blame you_

_But I'm gonna wanna learn to play the didgeridoo too _

"It's ok," She said as he spun her around to the front again, "The songs about a girl who isn't happy in her relationship. If anything they'll think I'm breaking up with you."

"Even better." He grumbled and took her hand again.

_Because way up here_

_I'm dancing around that lamppost in the rain_

_Way up here_

_Rain on down_

_And I'm screaming, I'm shouting into your ear_

He was holding her closer than before and had taken the pace slower but the steps more intricate. He was impressed she could adapt so well. But what was even more impressive was her ability to engage him. He'd reached the second pirouette and their audience had melted away completely. Her stubbornness in catching his eye on every turn, the grace of her lithe body, and the easy movement of her feet. She was everything he had ever wanted in a dance partner. She made it easy, let him have his head and do what he wanted. She made it almost fun.

_And out and in, and doubt and din again._

As the last few peculiar notes bled out of the sound system Kai spun her once more, and then left her two feet away, hand still clasping his.

Strangely, he was sad it had ended.

Clapping broke his thought process and with a groan of realisation he remembered their audience. Kaoru just laughed and skipped across to give him a fleeting hug.

"Kaoru!" He tried to protest, already embarrassed by the dance and already, he knew, up for weeks of crap from gossip magazines.

"Thank you for dancing with me."

It was enough to quell all his worries at once.

"Your welcome." She pulled away and opened her mouth to say something.

"Kai-sama!"

"Kai-chan dance with me!"

"I love you Kai Hiwatari!"

The fangirl banks broke and they descended on him like ants on honey. Kaoru could do little more than watch and feel sorry for her partner. After a minute or so she comforted her self knowing there was no way she could help and returned to the bladebreakers table.

They were all still sitting there and grinning. She paused for a moment, then grinned back and bowed deeply to laughs and applause.

"Impressive Kaoru. You have waltzed with the with the man of ice and survived." Smirked Ray and Kaoru stuck out her tongue.

"You just jealous it wasn't you Ray."

"Poor Kai though." Sighed Max and eyed the mound of women he was fairly sure his captain was being obscured by. "All those fan girls…"

"Oh yeh. Poor Kai. Surrounded by girls. Fate worse than death." Droned Tyson sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

Hilary giggled and slid a glass of rose wine across the table at Kaoru. "It was a nice dance Kaoru, you two make a cute couple."

Kaoru smirked. "Why thank you. You should tell Kai that, I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

They all knew he certainly would not be thrilled, and laughed at the thought.

Her feet were tired from the dance so Kaoru reached to pull the chair out, but where it should have grasped the back, her fingers slipped through air.

"Huh."

"Kaoru." There was a hand grasping her arm. Someone had pulled her backwards. She turned around.

"Mirra?"

The brown hair, dead straight, with blue highlights poking out of her fringe and under her layers, was not as perfectly in place as it had been when she'd arrived. As though she'd spent the better part of the night running her fingers through it. Her eye make up, which had been dark and smoky, was smudged and she refused to make eye contact with Kaoru.

"What is it?"

"Kaoru…I think I need some advice. Do you mind?"

Kaoru blinked. She glanced at her rose wine, then back at Mirra and offered an apologetic look to her team. Then she snatched the drink up, and led the other girl to the outside pool, taking another pink bubbly thing from a waiter on the way for Mirra.

The two girls found themselves a place around the glowing pool in the back yard and sat beside it sipping their rose wine.

Kaoru didn't ask, and for a while Mirra didn't elaborate on her problem. And then she said, very quietly, "I mean, it's not like you and I know each other all that well."

"No." Agreed Kaoru. "I suppose not."

"But it's just that all those years ago you gave Renna that advice that really seemed to change her, and…well I need help and I don't know what to do."

"About?" Kaoru questioned easily.

"Renna's in love with Lee."

"Really!?" This caught Kaoru's attention and immediately she swivelled where she sat to find and examine the two. It was easy enough. Renna and Lee stood close by but inside, at the dessert buffet, and conveniently together. They were talking in low but comfortable tones, with gentle smiles and cake in their hands. And they looked happy. Happier than she'd imagined Renna could be. "Yeah…" Mumbled Kaoru, "You may be right."

"I know I am." Said Renna, she too looking at the couple. "You're examining only this moment, but I see every one. Every smile, and blush and bitten lip…" She trailed off, a bitter tone clinging to the words.

Kaoru looked at her then, confused. "What's the problem? Isn't it good for Renna to be forming relationships?"

"Yeah, it is. Or it would be. If I didn't love Lee too."

Mirra refused to look at her, focusing solely on the glowing water, but it was easy enough to see the hurt in her eyes.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want Lee, more than you want Renna?"

"That's an unfair question."

"Its one that has to be asked."

Mirra frowned. "It's not fair." She grumbled and Kaoru smiled.

"It never is. Love is a very callous thing. It happens on its' own agenda, with little to no regard for anyone else. You've just got to try to make the best of it."

"But I saw him first!" Mirra interrupted, "And I know it sounds childish but I did. When dad and I moved away from mum, we moved to Lee's village."

Kaoru nodded. "The same place Ray used to live."

"We became really good friends, me and the whole group of them, but Lee and I were really best friends. I loved him back then, really truly and I know he loved me too. Or at least I know now, looking back on it."

"Back then?" Questioned Kaoru quietly, "Does that mean you don't love him really, truly now?"

"I…I don't know." Whispered Mirra. She propped her arms behind her and leant back against them, looking up to the stars as though they might spell out some answer. "Dad and I moved away when I was thirteen, because of his business. All those years I held onto Lee, and loved him even though we couldn't see each other. When I turned sixteen I immediately went by myself back to the village to find him. And…we still got along great - we get along great." She corrected. "But I thought as soon as I got back I'd tell him how I felt and we'd live happily ever after, only I couldn't. I don't know what held me back but for some reason the words wouldn't come out and he didn't say it either even though I was so sure he felt it. So we just went back to liking each other, secretly, and then Renna showed up." Mirra sighed.

"But you were happy to see her? Weren't you?"

"Of course!" Exclaimed the girl and rounded on Kaoru indignantly. "Of course I was. I missed her so much. Kaoru…you have to understand how much guilt I feel because of Renna." Again Mirra trailed off and Kaoru could feel it heavy in the air - regret.

She choose to divert that topic for now. "Did Renna and Lee get along?"

"Yeah…" Agreed Mirra hesitantly, "I mean they did and they didn't. Renna didn't really get along with anyone back then. I was out training when she showed up. She demanded to search the village but Lee, as our strongest blader, was the protector of the village and challenged her to a beybattle. She beat him easily of course, Renna is an amazing beyblader. The others fell too but then I arrived back and as soon as she saw she stopped fighting. The team didn't even notice, they were too excited to have found such a strong blader and Lee asked her to join us. She refused but he was determined, and suggested she spend the night. It worked to her advantage because she had to find time to talk to me, so she agreed. And she ended up staying the next night, and the next too. She wanted me to go with her, but I wanted to stay. Of course I wanted her to stay too…it was a very difficult time Kaoru." Mirra looked at the other girl.

She nodded, but refused to offer comment, waiting for Mirra to continue.

"It's just…how could we expect to be the same people after ten years? It's unreasonable isn't it? We are sisters, yes, but to meet so suddenly, after so long, how could I simply leave all my friends for someone I barely knew. And Renna had changed, not for the better. Of course I knew why she'd changed, but…it was a hard decision." Mirra finally concluded. "Then one night, after failing again to convince her to join the team, Lee asked her to have a talk with him. I still don't know what was said, all I know is that Renna agreed to be a White Tiger, and from then on she didn't look so alone. When she looked at Lee there was respect there, but also…affection."

"You think she loved him since then?"

"I think so."

"But you didn't realise then?"

"No."

"Do you love Lee?"

"I…yes. I love him." She looked at Kaoru and her eyes were pleading. "I do."

Kaoru considered her for a moment, then looked away. "Well? You saw him first didn't you? Tell Renna. She's your sister. She'll understand."

"But…"

Kaoru smiled. "What's holding you back? Don't you love him?"

"I do…but I love Renna too. She's my sister and, god, Kaoru…I've done so much wrong to her in my life! How can I, in good conscience, add to that list, when finally, _finally_, she's found happiness!?"

Kaoru looked back at her brown haired companion, who sat cross-legged on the edge of the pool and pleaded with light pink eyes for some kind of answer. "What have you done to her?"

"I left her. You know the story don't you? My mother, the lazy, alcoholic-who-knows-what-else, and my father, the seeming hero, who stayed with her for us, until finally he stole away into the night with me at toe. But he left Ren. And I left her too. I should have screamed louder, tried harder to get back to her, I should have hated my dad longer, yelled at him more, stolen money and sent it to her, anything! Letters. Something…And then, when I had a handful of money and a plane ticket and permission to travel, did I go to get her? No. I returned to the boy I _'loved'_." This time she sneered the word. "And she, who had worked for every cent, who had escaped quietly through the kitchen window at night, she came and found me. How could I ever explain that Lee was my greater priority…how could I ever be forgiven? And we've lived such separate lives Kaoru, not just the distance but also the life itself. Father always loved me dearly, while mother used and scorned Renna. I've had all I could dream of, while Renna worked to make money that was never once spent on her. How could I ask for understanding? How could I ever repent? And now I'm sitting by a pool, asking a girl I barely know, the best way to make Renna's life just a little worse."

Kaoru drained the last few sips from her rose wine and then set it down beside her. "You had no choice. You were only a child. You must know that."

"Maybe I wasn't the perpetrator of the crimes myself, but I stood by and let them happen. I am an accessory to the cruelty my sister has endured."

Though Mirra refused to look down, focusing instead straight at her with fierce, challenging eyes, Kaoru heard, and recognised the heartbreak, and the true, retched, guilt.

"So you'll give her Lee?"

The girl paused. "Do you think I should?"

"It's not about what I think."

Mirra laughed, "It is when I'm asking your advice! So far I've just told you stories."

Kaoru considered this. "Do you want to know what I think Mirra? Even if you may not like the conclusion I've come to?"

And Mirra looked at her and for the first time knew the raw, blunt honesty that was a part of her new friend, and was afraid of it. She nodded. "Yes, I want to. Very much."

"I think you're not in love with Lee." Said Kaoru easily, but smiled sadly at the look of shock and outrage on Mirras face. "I think you were in love, in the beginning. I think love is temperamental and difficult to pin down. I think distance makes heroes of our memory. I believe time makes fools of us all. And I know, Mirra," She looked at the younger girl and held the pale eyes purposefully, "I know, that people fall out of love as easily as they fall in it. And I _know _it's unfair. And I know how you can be so happy and so sure one day, and so confused and misplaced the next. I know it's hard to let go, I know it's hard to admit, I know you want it to be a lie or a nightmare but it happens to the best of us."

Now it was Kaoru's sapphire eyes that were pleading. Pleading that the girl understand, or at least try to. Mirra did try. She allowed the idea to wash over her, and sink in.

"It happened to you?"

Kaoru allowed the briefest pause, she'd not even told her friends about that time. She nodded. "It did. Even without the distance and without the time. Just…here today, gone tomorrow." She sighed.

"But…Lee and I - " Kaoru cut her off.

"I also know that when you're in love you don't passively ask if your sister should have him. You storm in, breathing fire and yell to the whole world that he's yours. No guilt, no regret stops it. And when you're asked if you love him you don't say 'I don't know', and you don't hesitate before you say 'yes.' You say 'Yes!' just like that, and you puff out your chest and you smile and your eyes curve upwards and you say 'I love him!'"

Mirra said nothing, but her eyes were wide and her lips parted.

"Mirra! Tell me! He's yours right? You saw him first! He's yours!"

The girl gaped at her, mouth moving but soundlessly. "He's…"

Kaoru drew her into a hug, and there on the shoulder of more-or-less unknown company, Mirra sobbed.

When the girl had quietened they sat by the pool for a time longer, with Mirra leaning against Kaoru, who held her shoulder tightly.

"This is right, right?" Asked Mirra softly, and Kaoru smiled.

"I don't know."

When they both felt strong enough, they stood and went inside.

Back in the warm room, masked by the talking and the music Mirra thanked Kaoru for her help and excused herself to sort some things out. By things of course she meant Renna, and Kaoru watched, smiling happily and sadly as Mirra caught her sisters arm and took her away from their table to a quiet corner to talk.

Kaoru grabbed some dessert and returned to her teams' table. Kai sat there, fingers whizzing on a laptop she had no idea how he'd gotten. She opened her mouth to say 'hi,' but the boy beat her.

"There is no way I'm dancing with you again. Asking is futile. Find someone else."

She just laughed, polished of her sponge cake, and with a dismissive wave left him to his typing. On the dance floor she found Lachlan, the blue haired boy from the Elites, and they shared a few dances together. Then she was passed on to the other Elite, Patrick. Abi, his girlfriend, it seemed was taking a break to discuss something or other with their captain.

Kaoru enjoyed dancing with Patrick. He was a good dancer, but he didn't take himself too seriously and was very funny. Some of the moves he made up made her giggle, and in the middle of one song, when the melody briefly stalled and whirred, he struck a fantastic disco pose, before grabbing her close as it started again to support her laughing head on his shoulder.

They talked pleasantly about his team, specifically Abi, and about hers as well, and the tournament and their victory and the future. There was no lull in conversation unless the song got to loud, and then Pat yelled over the top of it "This song is fucking loud!" Which still made her laugh, even if it was only the truth.

They'd danced together for five songs when a slow one began. Kaoru began the obligatory, step away and look embarrassed, when Pat chuckled and lifted her arms around his neck.

"Shall we?" He called over the slowly moving melody, because it was still awfully loud.

Kaoru grinned happily and nodded when he rested his hands on her hips. "Isn't there some rule about non-couples dancing to slow songs?!" She scorned.

"Then I shall rebel!" He cried, then smiled and insisted, "They're good for seducing girls you see!" and made a very exaggerated sexy face at her. She laughed.

"Tell me about Abi!" Kaoru yelled, "When did you meet?"

"Four years ago!" Came the reply, "In school. Love at first site! She and Aaron founded this team, and she asked me to join!"

"Love at first sight for you!" She called cheekily. "Abi just seemed embarrassed by you when I met her!"

"Hey!"

"How did you get together!?"

Pat opened his mouth to answer but before he could Kaoru caught blond and pink hair in her peripheral vision and spun his around 180 degrees. Pat cried out, startled and very nearly lost his balance but somehow righted himself. Brushing bright red hair out of his green eyes, he turned to ask her what had happened but noticing her vision locked purposefully over his right shoulder instead followed it.

"Don't look!" She scorned and smacked him slightly on the arm.

"Oh, cause you're not!" he remarked and turned back around.

There, at the edge of the dance floor, where the bright, coloured lights were fading into the white of the room beyond, was Renna, dancing with Lee. They danced slowly and shyly together, but both were smiling.

"The White Tigers." Murmured Patrick, "Friends of yours?"

"They're in love." Kaoru whispered back and smiled, as gently she and Pat swayed to and fro and watched the couple at the edge of the dance floor.

Renna was speaking very quietly but importantly to Lee, and the older boy was listening carefully and nodding slightly. Occasionally he looked a little surprised, sometimes embarrassed. Then, as they watched, Renna hung her head and mumbled something under her breath that made Lee's eyes pop open.

For a moment they stayed like that, Renna looking away from him and Lee looking shocked, as they still danced gently and closely. Then, Lee reached out, lifted her head and asked her a small question, which she answered, with an unhappy blush.

But the answer made Lee grin and he cupped her cheek and softly kissed her. Renna didn't hesitate in the least, she leaned forward, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck and kissing him back.

"Aw." Breathed Kaoru adoringly and Pat laughed at her. "Shush you," she reprimanded and gave him a quick glare, "I've no doubt you're ten times more lovey-dovey with Abi!" The boy again chuckled but didn't deny it.

"It's hard to believe she's the same person. She was so cold and uncaring when we fought her. She looks totally different now." Mused Patrick and Kaoru turned to him and grinned.

"She looks happy."

When Renna and Lee broke away they only moved so far as their foreheads were touching, and Lee quietly whispered something back at her. Renna smiled.

It was then Kaoru saw Mirra, standing outside of the dance floor and observing the scene with a blank, but not unhappy expression. She seemed to sense Kaoru looking at her, because she turned and met the blue eyes. For a moment the blank expression, and Kaoru's own worries held steady, and then Mirra smiled, in a way that was truly happy and thankful. Kaoru smiled back, and nodded softly to the brunette. 'You made the right choice.'

"She gonna be ok?" Asked Pat, and Kaoru was briefly surprised at his perceptiveness.

"Yeah," she agreed, as Mirra began to walk away from the dance floor, "She will be. In time."

"Do you think she'll find her own love?"

Kaoru looked up at Pat and the serious green eyes were a shocking departure from his joking side. She found she could not lie to him. "I don't know." She admitted. "But I truly hope so, with everything I have."

When the slow dance, and another fast one after if had finished, Patrick excused himself to find Abi and Kaoru let him go with only minimal teasing.

She wandered back to their table, where Kai still sat typing.

"All work and no play makes Kai a dull boy!" Sang Kaoru and sat beside him.

"All dancing and no rest make Kaoru smelly." Kai retorted.

"I do not smell!" She argued, but when he wasn't looking took a subtle sniff at her underarm. "At least tell me what you're doing on the laptop?"

He considered it for a moment, and then looked up, "I'm just researching some of the other teams in the tournament, learning about our competition." He smirked and Kaoru realised that Kai really enjoyed this sort of preparation work.

"So tell me about them!" She insisted, "What should I expect?"

As he began to rattle off facts about the different teams, a waiter brought over a cocktail for both of them, which Kai sipped uncaringly as he talked and Kaoru slurped enthusiastically. Then Ray and Hilary joined them with other drinks, and then Tyson with more, and Max with a bottle of champagne.

As they drank more the conversation got funnier, until they were all giggling at almost anything. Even Kai, who had drunk more than he meant to, snorted and made funny half-laugh noises at their jokes.

With Kai somewhat relaxed, Kaoru had no problem persuading him to get a second dessert with her and Max, when the blond boy asked her. And while they stood propped against the buffet tables eating their 'three layer chocolate mouse with caramel crystals', they accepted several more drinks from passing waiters, until Kai was openly laughing at jokes and Kaoru was feeling her mind steep away into a pleasant buzz.

Utilizing a combination of booze, mouse and opportunity, Hilary asked Kai for a dance and by some miracle of good fortune, the boy blinked, shrugged and accepted, disappearing with the brunette onto the dance floor closely followed by an aghast Tyson and an amused Ray and Max. Kaoru moved to follow but instead bumped into something in her path.

"Oof. Oh, sorry." She managed and laughed at herself. Then, recognising her company, she smiled. "Oh, Tai! Hello"

The little red head Elite girl blinked up at her, seemingly also a little intoxicated and gasped. "Kaoru! You look lovely!" she gushed, forgetting they'd already exchanged pleasantries.

"You too!" She agreed, for the second time eyeing the pretty gold dress that stood at stunning contrast to the bright hair.

"Well I'll just be - " Began the girl but Kaoru hardly noticed.

"Hey Tai? What's with you and Makan? Is he your brother or friend or…something?"

"Oh…Makka, he's uh…he's…. well we're childhood friends." Nodded the girl slowly, seeming rather unsure of the whole thing herself. "When my parents died, and I moved in with aunty Lucy, Makka lived beside us and he, uh, he, you know, looked after me and stuff."

"I see." Said Kaoru with great understanding, like the information had been no surprise, when really it had.

"But…but you know, Kaoru, the truth…do you want to know the real truth Kaoru?" Asked the red head, and leaned right in to raised her eyebrows at the taller girl who nodded enthusiastically. "The really real truth is that, Makka, is that, I love Makka, you know? I really do. We're meant for each other, one day, I mean later. When he's not so interested in other girls and when I'm not so damn small and, and then we'll be together ok? Cause you know, there's no one Makka loves like he loves me. And I love him, so…it's perfect. Don't you think?"

Kaoru stared at the small girl and was surprised, but in her numbed mind, it was only faint. And really, even when she separated herself from the numbed feeling, it was possible. Why shouldn't it be?

Like Patrick had said, Renna was cold and uncaring, but with Lee she was happy and warm. Love changed people.

And maybe, if Tai was right, and Makan and her were meant to be, then with her love he wouldn't be the same boy who moved from girl to girl on the dance floor all night.

Kaoru grinned, and truly hoped it would come true.

"I do think! I'll be rooting for you Tai!"

The read head grinned and then ran to catch up with her team mate Sophie, whom she'd been walking along side.

Kaoru found it shockingly natural to slip back through the bodies to the heart of the dance floor. She danced with a few people before she somehow found Kai, and then stayed with him for a good many dances. Though the boy had claimed to not know how to dance in the modern fashion, he had a good sense of beat and his hands were big on his hips and his chest was warm against hers.

As the night grew on the drinks grew seemingly even more plentiful, and blended together like the light of the dance floor with pulsed louder and louder. The night grew darker, and more people reach out hands to snag glasses, or to snag hands or to feel the air as they moved in the throbbing mass on the floor. Faces were less and less important, any hand on your hips would do, or no hands, just to let the music take you and give in. And the drink mattered less as well, and the music, until all that mattered was the walls of bodies and the pulse of your veins and the brilliant, bright, colourful light that more and more became the only thing you could perceive.

* * *

Kaoru wasn't aware of waking.

The room was very warm, and her mind was so soft and floating, as though not really there. She lay, for some time, in limbo between the waking world and her dreams.

It was a different heat, one separate from the soft blankets and warm air, that finally made her crack an eye.

Her mind was apt enough to notice the large hands on either side her head, but two hazy to comprehend how they got there. Kai was above her though, and it connected they were probably his. His hair was messy, and his eyes heavy lidded, the crimson soft and distorted in the half-light.

Then there was a pair of too soft lips on hers.

Though the surprise flickered briefly through her consciousness, it made no effort to rise. Nothing did. The lips felt incredibly good on hers, but she couldn't find it in her to reciprocate. And though she knew what he was doing was being committed under a cloud of drunkenness, her body wouldn't move to force him off.

As her mind became more wakeful, though no more understanding, she managed, slowly, to kiss him back. As her lowered himself more closely over her, she reached up to hold his neck, and curled her leg around one of his.

She knew she should refuse, push him away and pretend to forget. But it was nice. And she was drunk too, after all. His lips were pliant, and he smelt like apples. She moaned. Each kiss stole her breath, and when his tongue brushed hers, she whined and arched forward in a disconnected, desperate way, to kiss him more deeply.

However, as she became more awake, her drink-hazed mind whirred with sent of him, combined with his admitting to not wanting a relationship. The feel of his lips and the truth of her own situation. The taste of his mouth and the visions, again and again of all of the too many drinks. Pink, orange, bubbly, green…

"No, stop!" He was just as disoriented as her, and with a strong push to the shoulder he was rolled away. She felt sick. How much had they had?

She raised a hand and held her temples between her thumb and middle finger. Her head was throbbing too. And she was so tired.

Kai lay quietly next to her, dressed still in the tuxedo blazer and jeans he had worn to the dance, though now they were crumpled and misplaced. He blinked slowly at the ceiling, confused and hurt.

Suddenly she felt horrible. He was not aware enough to realise he was making any kind of mistake, but maybe he was aware enough to feel rejected.

She groaned. "Headache." She did have one after all, and her brain was far to numb to come up with anything better, "I gotta sleep Kai. You too."

The boy simply mumbled what she supposed was assent, but he seemed to look less betrayed, so she flopped back down, deciding against finding an aspirin, simply because she wasn't sure she still knew where the kitchen was.

She was asleep again before she could give it so much as a second thought.

* * *

He'd stayed in her bed throughout the night. She'd woken a few times and though she hadn't physically checked, her bed sunk more than normal, and there was a warm radiance constantly from behind her.

When she woke, he was gone. She might have though it was all a dream, she might have simply forgotten it altogether, if not for the sense of surprise she felt upon waking, that no spirit had visited her that night to tell her off.

When they met in the kitchen he greeted her normally, with a ghost of a smile and loud complaints about how much his head hurt and how he would never, _never_ allow her to talk him into such nonsense again.

He mentioned nothing about having woken in her bed, nor of their kiss, and she assumed he'd forgotten and blamed his change of bedroom on drunken misplacement.

They ate breakfast together, as the others slept, and traded peaceful small talk across the bench. Soon, it was as if nothing had happened at all.

* * *

Somewhat fortuitously the Bladebreakers, the White Tigers had booked flights that departed from the same terminal. Less fortunately for the White Tigers, their flight had been delayed for 2 hours, and when the Bladebreakers arrived at the airport it was to familiar, but unimpressed faces.

It turned out to be a blessing for both teams. There hadn't been time for a proper goodbye after the dance, and seeing each other again, all knew they were not quite ready to leave.

Ray and Lee sat quietly together and talked sadly, understanding their time together for now had almost come to an end. The rest of the teams grouped together and talked and laughed together happily.

"You're joking me!" Gaped Tyson.

"Not in the least."

"No way!"

"Way."

"You two are twins?!"

Renna and Mirra laughed in sync. They sat quiet close by each other, and leant inwards in a friendly, easy way. It was such a relaxed and comfortable relationship, that a day previous, Kaoru would not have believed it possible.

And they'd told their team their secret.

"It's true." Renna asserted, her face smiling and kind. "I'm so sorry we didn't tell you, but we didn't tell our team either! It's a long story."

"Oh yes." Confirmed Kevin, to suspicious and intrigued faces, "Surprise! We're blood related. Lovely." His sarcasm made them all laugh.

"Oookay. This is gonna take some adjusting…" Concluded Tyson and proceeded to stare at the sisters suspiciously. "Hey wait," He realised and his head whipped around to Kaoru, "Why aren't you surprised?"

"Oh, I knew." She answered with an easy smile.

"What!?" He gaped.

"What?" Asked Kevin and Max.

"What?!" Came the outraged cry of Lee, from the other side of the gate lounge.

Kaoru laughed. "Well I told you, I met Renna when we were both quite young. She wasn't hiding her sister then, she told me all about her."

"And you didn't tell us?" Sputtered Tyson.

"Well it was hardly mine to tell." She huffed and made an effort to look offended.

Tyson took a moment to grumble at the injustice of it all, before agreeing with her.

"And you and Lee are now together? Isn't that right Renna?" Asked Hilary and leaned forward in anticipation.

"Yes." Renna smiled, and looked away slightly.

"But Mirra, I thought you liked Lee."

"I did." She agreed easily.

Tyson frowned "And confused again."

"I did like him, but people fall out of love easily. It just happened." She confessed and smiled at Kaoru.

The girl nodded. "Are you okay Mirra?"

"Fine." She assured. "Thank you Kaoru, so much. I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't talked."

"Yes, thank you so much Kaoru." Gushed Renna and leaned a little forward in her chair, "You've done so much for us, more than you could ever understand. By talking with me when I was 11, and talking to Mirra last night, and you hardly know us. Please, what can we do to repay you?"

Kaoru laughed. "Don't be silly. I wouldn't be who I am today, I certainly wouldn't have been there to give you advice last night, if not for a stubborn little blond girl who frowned at me and told me I was doing the right thing." She smiled at Renna, and the once frowning, stubborn blond girl, grinned back.

"Alright! All clear? Good!" Grinned Mirra, without waiting for any confirmation. "Hey, Kaoru, can you come with me for a sec? I want your opinion on this cute guy!"

"Oh, well, you've certainly moved on quickly." She smiled and was not surprised that Renna stood to follow them. "So where is he?" She asked, as they sat down in another lounge area.

"He's…non-existent. Sorry. Just wanted a private chat with you before we leave."

"Private?" Kaoru asked and raised a brow at Renna who sat down comfortably next to her sister.

"We decided not to keep anything from each other. We've both hurt too much, from now on we want to cherish the family we have, and do right by each other. I didn't tell anyone else about the conversation last night, but I told Renna. I think I owe her that."

Kaoru was confused. "I see."

"I told her about you having loved someone too, but she said it was impossibly. She said you don't intend to fall in love, or rather, you are not…able to fall in love?"

Kaoru sighed but nodded. "Not allowed is more precise."

"Then the boy you told me about - did you lie?"

"No." The word came out sadly, but sincerely. "I did love him."

"How, though? And I don't understand why you would be not allowed to love."

Kaoru paused. "I can't explain the details of it to you. Like you with Renna, it's a secret I haven't even told my team. But suffice to say, I cannot be with someone I love. It will hurt me, it will hurt them and, one way or another, I _will _have to leave them."

"Then this boy?"

"I did love him. It happened when I was staying in Australia. We lived in the same neighbourhood, and we were very close, great friends. We were boyfriend and girlfriend for almost nine months, and I liked him so much. He was a great guy. And one day I just realised I loved him. I was terrified." Her eyes slipped closed, as the memory of that moment, the bright terror, washed over her senses again. "Bad things would happen if I fell in love with him I knew. I thought of leaving, but it was hard, we'd become so close. Then one day, he confessed to me." Her eyes opened again, and looked suddenly older. "In that instant there was so much fear, but it was only fear for myself. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where to go, I was deeply afraid to be hurt, I was afraid for my life, I wanted desperately to run. And I realised, not a single concern for him had gone through my mind. If I loved him, wouldn't I've been worried for him? Shouldn't I have worried about leaving him alone, shouldn't I have been afraid he'd get hurt? I knew I was no longer in love with him, because I meant more to myself than he did."

She could not look at them.

"What did you say?" Pressed Renna and Mirra shot her a reprimanding glance.

"Barely anything." Kaoru confessed. "He knew I didn't want to fall in love, it came as no surprise to him that I'd turn him down. It was time to leave, and he was opposed at first, but I knew it was for the best. I couldn't stay there, not while he loved me and kindly, gently, allowed me to stand unloving beside him. We broke up, I told him I was sorry, and I went to Japan."

The three girls sat quietly for a moment before Renna had to know, "What was his name?"

Kaoru looked away, "Alex."

When they returned to the teams it was almost time for the White Tigers to board their plane. The boys all shook hands, while Kaoru and Hilary farewelled them with hugs. Then Ray came forward and deeply, sadly embraced each of his former teammates.

"Best friends, you and me Ray." Exclaimed Lee, as the two boys parted, "And don't you forget it!"

"Never!" Choked the boy.

As the White Tigers began to file out through the boarding ramp both Mirra and Renna parted from the group and threw their arms around Kaoru.

"I'll miss you two." Murmured Kaoru, and hugged them back.

"I'll miss you." Agreed Mirra.

"Don't forget this time," Smiled Renna, as she began to move away. "Renna Misato. Don't forget."

"I won't."

"And Mirra Misato."

"I won't."

Mirra parted from her first, flashing a bright grin, though there were tears pooling in her eyes, and stepped up beside Mariah to follow her team onto their plane.

"And don't forget me, will you?" Asked Kaoru, as she and Renna stood together in a half embrace.

"I couldn't."

"Kaoru Kumori. Remember."

"I will. Kaoru, thank you."

As Renna's hand slipped from hers, a tear slipped over her lashes, and down her cheek.

"Goodbye." She whispered.

Renna's icy, crystal blue eyes held her own sapphire ones for a moment longer, before pulling away. She and Lee walked beside one another down the boarding ramp, their hand gently bumping as they moved. And as Kaoru watched, slowly and shyly, Lee gently took the smaller hand, and Renna's fingers curled around his.

* * *

They'd taken two steps into the house before grandpa had flung himself on them. It had taken them, then, 10 minutes to remove him. Afterwards they sat around the table and laughed, ate and regaled grandpa with their adventures and victories.

Finally, when they had all filled themselves to the brim with hot, tasty Japanese food, and sat back in their seats with their bellies out in front of them, grandpa stood, importantly, and they turned to face him.

"Dudes, I've got an announcement."

"What is it grandpa?" Grinned Max.

"Snoop dog called and asked for his do-rag back? Thought as much." Smirked Tyson, and his grandpa glared at him, but not before reaching up to self-consciously smooth the material.

"Tyson!" Hissed Hilary.

"What!?"

"Dudes! Chill! I got some really cool news for ya, ya dig?" This time they were silent and waited for him to elaborate. "Well, its just...a long time ago this place had a great big family in it." He looked at Tyson and Kaoru solemnly. "And since they left, it'd been really empty. But then, one day, there were all these kids here! And I though, it was nice, that there was movement in these old walls again.

"Dudes, I gotta tell ya, I'm real grateful that you became such good mates with my bro Tyson here. And Kaoru now, too." He said and ruffled the boys' hair, "I know they think of ya all as family, and I do too. And I, well," he looked away, seemingly a little embarrassed, "You know. I had some money lying around, it happens when you're old, when you don't go on shopping sprees every weekend!" He laughed, "Let that be a lesson to you girls!" He clapped Hilary's shoulder, and she blushed. "But I thought, it would be nice if you all had a place in this house, like a real family. So…. ha, I did a little renovating…Wanna see?"

Kai frowned. "Thank you, but we can't accept it. You've already done so much for us, it's too much to ask anything more." Ray and Max nodded solemnly

"Grandpa, that's so sweet, thank you!" Gushed Hilary, then shrunk in her seat when the boys glared at her.

Grandpa laughed. "No use crying over spilt milk dudes, or spent money in this case. Now come and tell me if you like it won't you?" He grinned.

They were lead passed the big room, along the corridor, and up the stairs.

The bladebreakers paused. Stairs?

"Grandpa, we have an upstairs?!" Kaoru exclaimed, and turned to the old man in excitement.

"We sure do little dudette!"

"Grandpa…" Breathed Ray in astonishment as they emerged into an upstairs living area, "This…this is too much. We can't accept it."

Grandpa laughed again. "Don't be silly! I've been meaning to do it forever! And when you dogs move out, I'll just let it out to some other loud kids. This old place is too big for one old man!"

Even Kai did not object this time, rather moving into the space to examine it further. Grandpa seemed to have it all planned out and truly, the deed had been done, the renovation was complete, and the least they could do was use it.

"It's great." Grinned Tyson. "Grandpa, you're awesome!"

The living space comprised of a sort of semi kitchen and a lounge area. The semi kitchen had a fridge, pantry, stovetops and a sink and bench with stools. It could not be used to make a whole meal, so they would have to eat down stairs, but for snacks and breakfast, and maybe the occasional un-extravagant meal, it would suffice perfectly. The lounge area ran onto the kitchen and was not cramped or fussy, but not large and extravagantly designed either. Rather, it felt homely and warm. It had pale cream carpet and cream walls, a leather corner couch, love seat and a leather armchair. It was lit warmly, a lamp in the corner and a window on the far wall that faced east. Its centrepiece was a single new plasma screen.

"Aaannnnddd….!" Sang grandpa excitedly, beckoning them to one of the far corridors, where he opened the first door he found "Ta-da!"

Inside was a well-fitted bathroom. The floor was a polished stone, in varied shades of white and beige and it had long dark wooden cabinets and several porcelain sinks, as well as a toilet and bathtub. The showerhead was silver and modern looking and protruded above the bathtub, shielded by a half wall of folding glass. The walls were beige, dotted with light blue tiles.

"Didn't want to do too much to it." Informed Grandpa, "It's your dudes space, so ya can design it however you want, you're bedrooms too!" He moved out of the bathroom and to the next room on.

Inside was nothing more than a light fitting, built in robe and a window. But it wasn't a small space, and would make a very comfortably bedroom.

"You dudes can pick who sleeps where. The other bedrooms are over there," He said, indicating the other corridor across the living space.

"Grandpa…" Said Kai softly, as the other moved slowly off in awe to explore their new home. "Thank you…"

Over the next few days a great amount of excitement was generated on the subject of rooms and decoration. Of course, it took almost a whole day to simple sort out sleeping arrangements. Tyson wanted to sleep near everyone but Kai. Ray for food, Max for fun, Kaoru to protect her and Hilary…well, secretly. Max thought a boys section and a girls' section would be logical and appropriate, but there were three rooms a corridor, so the numbers were off. Ray humbly sacrificed himself to sleep in the girls' corridor, but was rejected by Tyson at once. It was suggested, briefly, that one girl and two boys should sleep in each corridor to make it even. This was rejected by Kaoru and Hilary, who insisted they sleep in neighbouring rooms. Kai, naturally, would have been happiest to not sleep near any of them…

After some too-ing and fro-ing, it was eventually decided, mostly by Kai, that the girls would, _probably,_ be somewhat quieter than the boys, and hence less painful to share a corridor with. Tyson, of course, vehemently rejected the idea of Kai sleeping next to Kaoru's room, but muttered grudging agreements when Hilary offered to separate them. The arrangements left Ray in the boys' corridor, which he appeared to be half looking forward to, and half dreading. He chose the room closest to the corridors exit, for fast escape. Kai choose the room farthest from his corridors exit, hoping it would be the most peaceful.

The next day they ventured to home improvements store, where upon Hilary and Kaoru instantly began to panic, having not yet elected a colour scheme. With Ray's gentle encouragement and consolation, they managed to make it through picking beds and wood tones. It was when it came to linen that they began to fuss again.

"But I haven't chosen my design yet Ray!" Beseeched Hilary.

"How can we pick a colour to compliment our vision when we don't have a vision yet!" Implored Kaoru, aghast.

Kai settled the argument swiftly by placing two changes of black sheets in Kaoru's hands and two changes of white ones in Hilary's, which the girls accepted with hums and hars of subdued acceptance.

Doona covers were a more pressing issue. There were not only colours to decided, but patterns and trims.

Eventually Kaoru and Hilary simply sat down on one of the sample beds and together decided their colour schemes while the boys chose their doonas. Finally, Kaoru choose a dark pink one with a white silhouette sakura design. Hilary chose a gold bedspread with white details and trimmings, going for a minimalist approach.

The beds wouldn't be delivered until the next day, at which time they would all be on a plane, so for that night they would push the big corner couch and the other chairs out of the way and sleep all together on the floor of their lounge room.

Until then there was dinner to be made, which Ray did excitedly, though not without some difficulty, in new "sort-of" kitchen, eventually producing Mac and Cheese.

It was upon Kai's suggestion that the others began to watch the semi final, or final matches, or closing ceremonies of other tournaments around the world. No two tournaments began on the same date or ran on exactly the same schedule, there were ones that had finished before them, and, like the ones airing on the television that night, ones that had finished after them.

They crowded around on the couch, pushing and shoving each other for prime locations, save for Kai who sat comfortably and without complaint in the big leather armchair.

They had watched two finals and a semi and were currently watching the end of a closing ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil. A girl with dark skin and golden hair and eyes walked to the front with a cocky grin on her face a calmly took the trophy from the MC.

"The winners of the Brasilia BeyBlading tournament!" Cried the announcer, "The Thunder Sparks of South Africa!" The girl raised the trophy over her head and looked smug.

"What do you think?" Asked Tyson. As the announcer went on to congratulate the runners up.

"Impressive." Admitted Kai, "Seems they only lost a few rounds in the entire thing. The captain," he indicated the golden haired girl, "Kahlen, lost none."

"You didn't lose any though." Pointed out Ray and Kai smirked.

"That only puts us on an even playing field, we want to be better than them remember. Twice as good, three times if possible."

"Training!!" Tyson groaned, and Max patted his head solemnly.

"Baby." Remarked Kai, before changing the channel, having grown tired of the Brasilia Tournament.

"Welcome back to the Cairo tournament!" Blared the TV instantly as the image changed to a great open-air stadium with big beydish in the middle. "It's been a brilliant day here in sunny Egypt where the Temphin Ayx have just taken out the tournament in splendid colours!"

The image changed suddenly to a pretty young girl with long pale blond hair, and black emotionless eyes, walking nonchalantly down from the dish where her opponent still stood in shock. The girl wore all black, the only colour a blue clasp holding her hair out of her eyes, and the teal green blade in her hand.

"Araya Middleton, what a victory for the new Latvian team! How are you feeling?" The MC held a microphone to her lips and slowly she turned to face it.

She was truly very beautiful, with high cheekbones, long lashes and eyes that had probably once been dark blue. She opened her pale lips and said quietly. "No different than I'd imagined I would, after I won."

The MC seemed either to not notice her strange indifference or ignore it and laughed, "Confident huh! Well good for you, you did splendidly."

The girl inclined her head briefly, and then continued to walk back to her team.

"A remarkable win for the small team from Latvia today, who where at the bottom of the favourites rank at the beginning of the tournament. Comprising of only four players, one who is blind, and their captain who does not actively blade, the Temphin Ayx would seem to be at a disadvantage to anyone, but today the have not simply won the tournament, but they had done so with out losing a single game.

The image cut to a picture of the team, standing around the blond girl, though making no attempt to congratulate, or, it appeared, even talk to her. The teams other girl had short dark brown hair, and there was a boy with black spiky hair, and another with long forest green hair plated down his back, and dark glasses perched on his nose.

Then, out of the wings strode another figure, and suddenly the words of the commentators, which had continued to explain and remark, were gone to Kaoru. Her blood ran colder and her heart sped up. She frowned.

Who was this woman?

The lady, like the rest of her team wore all black, and seemed to be in her early thirties, though the others were obviously teenage. The feature, though, that most stood out, was her stark white hair, and snow pale skin.

Kaoru's head quirked to the side. She was aware faintly that she was clutching Hilary's leg, and the girl was questioning her well-being. She was also aware that the commentators called this woman the Temphin Ayx captain.

"Kaoru!" Suddenly she snapped to, and realised Tyson had been shaking her. "What's up? You went pale! You know one of them?" She blinked at him and then looked back at the screen.

"…I…no…I don't."

"Tell us, you were certain you were going to win today I take it." Asked the MC.

The lady still stood sideways but Kaoru saw her smile. "But of course."

The MC laughed, "A round of applause folks, for the Temphin Ayx captain, Minidri!"

"But she seems…familiar…" Whispered Kaoru as the lady turned, her black-brown eyes meeting confidently, through the screen, with Kaoru's.

But the eyes Kaoru saw, were not those confident ones on the screen.

The eyes that flashed through her mind were from another time and place. They were wider, excited, manic even.

And they shone with a horrible, hungry glint.

* * *

**TBC!**

Ta-da! Well, that took me about three months XD Not toooo bad. Not like that one that I did in nine months, ha…¬¬

I hope you all really enjoyed the first KaiXKaoru kiss! FINALLY! Sorry they were drunk…^^U Next chapter the gang will be off for the second leg of the tournament, and…there will be romance-a-brewin'! Mwahaha.

As for me, I'm very tired right now XD So please forgive any mistakes you found in the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

And **Pleeeeaase Review**! It makes me soo happy to know people are reading this story; you're the ones I'm writing this for after all. I already know how the story ends ;) but if you want to, then you're going to have to keep me motivated! You have your challenge, now go!

**Review!** (And get a strawberry tart hand made by Kai while I held a gun to his head. Enjoy!)


	14. BedMates and Big Ideas

Well. I am proud to say it has been 2 months and 5 days since I updated this! Yes, I counted XD I don't think I've done that well since chapter 6 or 7 :) There's not much to say about this chapter except, FINALLY PART 2! FINALLY AMERICA! THANK GOD! XD Lawl

So, quick recap if you need it ---Last chapter: Kai and Kaoru share a dance, which all goes very well until the music stops and Kai is tackled by fan girls. Kaoru's then intercepted by Mirra, who confesses both hers, and her sisters love for Lee and asks Kaoru's advice. Kaoru helps her realise her feelings for Lee are not as strong as they used to be, and Mirra gives Renna the 'ok' to confess to Lee. The dance fades on into the night and when Kaoru wakes up in their hotel room, Kai is kissing her. When they meet in the morning, it seems he's forgotten. Later, Kaoru confesses to Renna and Mirra that she once loved a boy, Alex, but left when she realised her life meant more to her than his. Returning to Japan they find grandpa has renovated the dojo, and witness the win of a certain team, The Temphin Ayx, in the Cairo tournament. The captain seems familiar to Kaoru.

This chapter is dedicated to MissCloud, since she contributed to it SO ridiculously much. Especially the park scene and a couple of the fangirls. Thank you MC XD

Enjoy!

* * *

**Bed-mates and Big Ideas.**

Kaoru sat next to Kai in the large, padded seats of the planes business class. She was staring fixedly out the window, and he was working studiously on cleaning some crud from under his nails.

"Say Kai…" She began slowly, almost cheekily, "Remember back on the bus? We were talking about love, and deciding not to and all that blah?"

"And all that blah." He agreed quietly.

Over the other side of business class, Hilary slept soundly.

Four days previous, when they were still in China and had finally organised and booked their hotel in New York (and thusly paid for it) the realisation had been made that, flights paid for, hotel paid for, and food more than accounted for, (even considering Tyson's gut), they had enough money left for three ticket upgrades to business class. This had, of course, spawn a wild debate about who was most deserving of the special seats.

Hilary and Kaoru's joint argument, "We're girls," had scored them two of the places and Kai's argument that Kenny would be needing the quiet for working on strategies (though originally it had competitions from Tyson's "I love you all so much") had finally secured the computer geek the spare seat.

However, the next day, at almost the exact time Kai had discovered that the placement of Kenny, Kaoru and Hilary in business class meant he'd be stuck with the three stooges, he'd also discovered that, coincidentally, he had just enough money in his account to upgrade to first class, but certainly not a cent more to put towards an upgrade for the others.

But, the first night in their new upstairs living area, Kaoru and Hilary had sat on the floor of their new lounge and loudly discussed what Kai made out through their squeals and coos to be some sort of new pop group sensation. A particularly loud scream had made him, and the others, look up with a start. He looked at Kenny. They boy was looking back, worried. Kai sighed, "Wanna swap?"

Yesterday, when the flight had departed Tokyo, Kai was forced to wonder whether Kaoru and Hilary had really been the smarter choice, of it he would almost have been better with Tyson.

He dismissed the foolish thought quickly. Nonetheless, to be sitting between the stubbornly, window loving Koru and the avid, aisle seat supporting Hilary was not going to be the best ten hours of his life.

Then, low and behold, luck was with him finally. Business class was divided into aisles of two seats only. Kaoru could have her window, Hilary could have her aisle, and Kai…Kai could sit away from them and have his silence.

Only, as they'd entered business class Hilary and Kaoru had squealed. Kai had looked at them in horror as they'd whipped out their hands and began Scissors, Paper, Rock. Hilary whopped as her rock, beat Kaoru's scissors and then, as Kai watched, she had bolted happily for his single aisle seat and sat down in it with a plonk. Kai stood, gaping, at his lost opportunity for silence.

"What…why is she…"

"Ryu Takashi." Moaned Kaoru. "The drummer in Pieces."

Kai frowned and looked back at Hilary, who was now blushing and chatting excitedly with the very good looking, though slightly creeped out, guy next to her.

"I can't believe he's on the plane!" Kaoru had whined, "And I can't believe I didn't pick paper!"

Kai moaned, and let her take the window seat before he sat in the aisle seat next to her. "I was so excited." He confessed grumpily. "It was going to be such a quite, peaceful plane trip."

She laughed at him, but then sobered and smiled sadly, understanding how much he would have loved a single seat all to himself away from the other boys.

"Aw, don't worry Kai, I'll probably sleep most of the trip anyway!"

And true to her word she'd curled up and gone to sleep almost immediately after take off. She slept through dinner and was still asleep when they turned the lights off and formally initiated 'bedtime'. Kai read a little as she slept, then worked on his laptop. And finally, he too nodded off.

When he woke she was still sleeping soundly and he smiled, thankful, for it truly had been a very peaceful flight sitting beside her. She finally woke when there were three hours of the flight remaining, but even then did not disturb him. She watched the second half of the in flight movie, then read a little and did the sudoku in the Japanese Airline magazine.

Then she simply stared out the window at the landscape of clouds, lit on their edges by the glow of morning sun.

Finally, with an hour remaining of the flight, Kaoru had needed to talk.

"Say Kai…" She began slowly, almost cheekily, "Remember ages ago on the bus? We were talking about love, and deciding not to and all that blah?"

"And all that blah." He agreed quietly.

"Well…I was just wondering…why is it you don't want to fall in love?"

It was not what he'd been expecting, and he wished, suddenly, that she'd just continued to look out the window. But he sighed anyway, and answered. "Love was something my grandfather forbid. It was punishable in biovolt."

"But you're not there anymore."

He considered it. "No. That's true…But, you know," he pondered how to explain it and then his lip twitched lightly, into a soft sarcastic smile, "It's a habit."

Kaoru laughed, "A habit to not fall in love?"

"It's something ingrained into me." Kai replied. "I was taught, from such a young age, that love was weak and pitiful. It's too hard to change those perceptions now."

"Perception and action are different though." Mused Kaoru indifferently as she ordered an orange juice from the passing stewardess. Kai raised a brow.

"In what sense?" He asked, accepting a coke.

"You can view love in those terms, pitiful, weak, but that won't stop you from feeling it. It won't stop you from seeing some pretty girl one day on the street and falling head over heals for her."

Again, Kai paused and considered it. "No." He finally agreed, "Perhaps not. But it is my choice as to what I do with those feelings, is it not? I can just as easily turn and walk away. Maybe I can't choose not to feel it, but I can choose not to involve myself in it."

She couldn't reply or even look it him. It was the same as her, only hers wasn't a choice. She could feel it too, but she had too refused to be involved in it. She licked her lips.

"Even if your heart is going a mile a minute?"

"I've always been a live by the mind, not the heart person. So long as the mind's on board, the heart can be calmed later."

Kaoru frowned. She wanted to argue and tell him he couldn't walk away, but at the same time, had to believe he could. She had promised the very same thing to the spirits. To leave that loved person. Even, to tell them she didn't love them.

"So why then." She almost whispered, "If you can love, why won't you? You must know the lessons you leant at Biovolt were cruel lies, why live by them when you're no longer bound to them?"

Kai looked at her and suddenly met her eyes, the perfect sapphire blue, deep like pools of rain water, with silver flecks glistening just noticeably in the dim light. They implored him to see reason, or to, in some way, validate the choice. He broke away from their depths almost urgently, and quickly looked away from Kaoru, past her, and out the window.

"It's not the lessons I learnt," he began slowly, "But the person I became."

"I don't understand."

"I didn't used to be like this. I was a normal kid, before everything happened. I can't change who I am, but I can choose not to invite others in to inspect."

"You're afraid to be judged? It's not like that, if someone loves you then-"

"Love!" He scoffed suddenly, "Who are you to lecture me about not wanting to fall in love! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Is this some kind of retribution for you? Convince one man to love, and you don't have to? I'm not your stress ball Kaoru! You can't give me a poke and watch the guilt slip away!"

For a moment her eyes dropped and he knew he'd hurt her, but then she looked straight back up and him and smiled lightly. "You're right, I do feel guilty, but it's not a choice for me. I just think, if you have that choice, then love is something you should try to find. It's not my place to change your mind, but I was curious as to the whys."

He sighed, calming tremendously as the slight sadness in her words washed over him. "Sorry." He murmured. "It would be useless to ask you for whys, wouldn't it?" He asked anyway, but Kaoru only smiled apologetically. "It's just, I don't think that someone like me could manage that level of care and dedication. For me, love might be just as impossible as it supposedly is for you."

"No, don't be silly," She cut in at once, her voice low and kind, "Every one is capable of-"

"Capable means nothing." He suddenly hissed, "I am a person who thinks love is weak and useless. I'm the sort of person who despises commitment, who doesn't laugh and doesn't joke, who doesn't want friends or company. Who thinks everyone in the world is beneath him because they've had the chance to live a normal life, tell me! What sort of girl should I burden with my love?"

She paused for only a moment, and in it, did not look away from his deep crimson eyes. Then she lifted the armrest between them, and gently kissed him on the cheek. "I don't believe any of that." She said, flatly. "Except maybe the thinking people are below you part. But you're growing out of that." She winked, and then, ignoring his indignant expression and lack of invitation, curled up against him. "I know many girls, Kai-kun, who would be privileged to be burdened by your love."

With the kiss spot still warm on his cheek, and her soft against his side, and the kind, sincere words, he could formulate no retaliation.

Finally he sighed. "Whatever." And she giggled, the vibration of her laugh moving through him also, from where they touched. He pushed back against her and she made a noise of complaint but sat up, "I was falling off." He said simply, which made her raise a brow, because it meant he was not complaining about her leaning on him, so, tentatively, she moved to lean her head on his shoulder again. He promptly leant back, so that their bodies were supported by each other's.

Kaoru blushed.

Kai on the other hand, extracted his book from where he had stored it in the seat side compartment and propped it between his thumb and forefinger and began to read. As if the gesture had been entirely natural.

She looked up at him, curious and unsure and after a moment he reluctantly met her eyes. "What?" He asked abruptly.

"Why are you…?"

"You wanted to comfort me right? Poor Kai thinks he can't love!" He turned back to his book, "Comfort away."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. So he'd understood. She'd felt such and overwhelming need to connect him to something, and leant against him more heavily. How kind of him to let her try to make him feel better.

For the remaining hour of the flight they chatted briefly from time to time, or rather Kaoru chatted, and Kai humoured her. He finally shoved her of his shoulder when she kept reading his book over it, and then complaining when he read to fast.

Hilary woke with 20 minutes of the flight remaining, when they pilot began to announce their decent, but Ryu Takashi had, cleverly, put his earphones in at some stage, so Hilary pouted and then resorted to talking at Kaoru over Kai, who was not amused.

When they disembarked it was before the others. Tyson, Ray and Max finally made their way to customs, complaining loudly about the long flight and Kaoru laughed, hugged her brother and then regaled them all with the tales of business class. She was glared at. Hilary gushed about Ryu Takashi, and how much they'd talked and how well they'd gotten along. Kaoru and Kai shared a knowing look between them while Tyson frowned jealously.

When they exited the building, and began the search to find a Taxi, Kaoru found herself next to Ray, in the middle of the pack. They chatted a little, mostly about America and the tournament, and then somehow Ray got caught up in Tyson and Max's 'taxi race'. Kaoru smiled at them but slowed down so that she ended up next to Kai who was, predictably, walking at the back.

"Excited to be in America?" She asked.

"Reasonably." Came the reasonable reply. Kaoru scoffed, but Kai began again before she could complain. "Thanks for today. For understanding, I mean, that I wanted a quiet flight."

She blinked in surprise, but smiled. "You're welcome."

"Somehow," He smirked, "It was a pretty good flight. I like sitting next to you better than the others."

At that she blushed. From anyone else it was a statement; from Kai it was a huge compliment, and not one she would soon forget.

"It was fun." She murmured, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "So! Plane buddies next time?!" She grinned and couldn't help teasing him.

Kai rolled his eyes and more or less ignored her. "Hey Kaoru, do you remember all that time ago, at the training camp?"

"Mm?" She agreed easily.

"I was wondering something."

"Mm?" She repeated.

"About those girls who could undress me in…what, 3 seconds?"

"3.24." Corrected Kaoru, "And that wasn't everyone, just the fastest."

"Right, well, I was just wondering, out of curiosity…what was your time?"

She was silent for a second, then grinned at him, "We could find out!"

Kai glared, and Kaoru giggled but finally admitted, "I wasn't that good."

"I would be concerned if you were." He told her, "I'm curious, humour me." It was the first time he'd ever admitted to being curious, he realised, and the first time he'd ever asked someone to humour him.

She glanced at him, a faint blush colouring her nose and ears and whispered. "5.01."

"5.01 seconds?" He confirmed and she nodded solemnly. She refused to meet his eyes but he stood looking down at her, with amusement shining in his. Finally she chanced a look up, "And that was slow?" He asked tentatively.

"Some…what…" She agreed, frowning in confusion at is amusement. Then Kai laughed. Just a low chuckle, barely audible, but a true laugh that curved his eyes, and made him smile. He was so entirely amused by this person! And suddenly so desperately wanted to calm her confusion, he reached out and ruffled her hair fondly.

"Weirdo." He called her, as her cheeks went red, "Another thing," Kai began suddenly, a hand still large on her head, "Do I still treat you like a lower life form?"

Kaoru's eyes widened. "What?"

"Like you said back then?"

"I.. you heard that?"

"Sorry, I wasn't really eavesdropping…" He had been.

She glanced away from him with a worried look in her eyes, "I'm sorry, it was just in the moment…I didn't really mean it."

"It's ok." He consoled, "Just, do I still?"

She looked up at him and suddenly the worry dissolved and she smiled cheekily. "No, you treat me like a very nice life form. In fact, I think I quite like the life form you treat me as." Kai raised a mocking brow, but his eyes were relieved.

Kaoru laughed. "And what do you mean all that time ago? What has it been, a bit more than a month?"

It had been, and Kai frowned. "Doesn't it feel like longer though?" Kaoru thought, and then nodded.

"It's because we're different to then. We've been changing."

Kai looked at her in surprise, but did not immediately reject the idea. After a moment of thought he asked, "How?"

And Kaoru smiled. "Because we became friends."

* * *

At the Hotel they ran into the All Starz. Max sprinted to his mother and threw himself on her, and Judy laughed and hugged him back.

"Mamma's boy!" Commented Michael, and Max poked his tongue out at him, over his mothers shoulder.

"Yo, Maxie, looking worse than I remember!"

"Shut up Rick!"

"Max!" Cried Emily and flung herself around his neck as soon as he let go of his mum, "We missed you! How have you been?"

"Missed him!" Laughed Eddie, "I sure didn't miss anyone." But he ruffled his old friends hair as he said it.

"Aw." Grinned Max, blushing slightly, "I missed you guys too!"

"But not enough to stop us from thrashing ya in the tournament!" Cut in Tyson, quite literally, by pulling Max away from his team and wrapping and arm around the boy.

"Oh! Delusional are we Tyson?" Smirked Michael.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you!" Laughed the boy, "Actually I'm just psychic."

Michael glared. "We'll be taking this tournament, count on it."

"Never!" Hissed Tyson, and instantly the two were pressed together, frowning and growling.

Ray grinned sheepishly, "Nothing like a bit of friendly competition right?"

Judy laughed. "Oh never mind them. Max, introduce me to this lovely young lady beside you!"

"Oh!" Max blinked and glanced to his left where Kaoru stood smiling. "This is Kaoru mum, she's a new member of our team, like Hilary."

"Kaoru huh?" Asked Judy, and leant in for a closer look. "And are you two dating yet?"

"Muuum!"

"Them?!" Gasped Hilary, and instantly wrapped herself around Max's neck, "Alas, I'm afraid Max is already accounted for." She smiled.

"How dare you!" Cried Kaoru, just as dramatically and suddenly was clinging to the boys arm, "Max is mine, you hussy! Right Max?"

"Uh..." Began the boy, blushing slightly and trying to ignore Tyson's death glares and his old teams shocked expressions.

Judy laughed. "My, my Max! You've become so popular!"

"Ah..Haha! I guess so!" Agreed the boy sheepishly, as the girls clinging to him giggled too, and suddenly seemed to forget their competition.

"Oh, before I forget," Began Michael and turned away from the now disinterested Tyson, who was still glaring at where Hilary had latched onto Max, "Let me introduce our new bladers too! This is Jessy." He said and indicated a busty brunette girl with a pretty smile.

"Nice to meet you!" She grinned and extended a hand, which Ray shook.

"Jess is a horse rider, and a brilliant beyblader!" Continued Michael. "And this is Cameron, a race car driver!"

The boy was tall and handsome, with pale blond hair and blue eyes. "Nice to meet you." He nodded.

"Hey, nice to meet you both!" Smiled Max, from within the clutches of his female teammates.

"Nice to meet you!" Chorused the girls together.

"Yes, yes, very nice too meet all of you," cut in Kai dryly, "But if I could for one moment break up this party, it's late. And we have a hotel room to check into. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better time to reacquaint."

Judy smiled. "You're quite right. We have our own room to get to, and I, for one, am exhausted!"

"You're suuuch a party pooper!" Whined Kaoru, and looked back at Kai over Max's shoulder.

Michael laughed, "Couldn't have said it better myself!" He agreed and Kaoru smiled at him, "Kaoru was it? Nice to meet someone who can put Kai in his place."

"Hey!" Grinned Kaoru, "Nice to meet you, can't wait to beat you!"

The boy blinked in surprise and then his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to be related to Tyson would you?"

"Sister!" The girl grinned and shot him a thumbs up.

"Thought so." Sighed Michael and Kaoru laughed.

They parted ways on the second floor, which was where the All Starz were staying.

"Don't get two cocky you two," Called Michael as he walked backwards down their corridor, "We've got reinforcements coming I'll have you know!"

Tyson and Kaoru just poked their tongues out at him in unison as the elevator doors slid closed.

In their own hotel room, on the fifth floor, Hilary squealed and immediately ran to explore. Kaoru laughed, and followed her friend just as excitedly, though at a more leisurely pace.

"Hey guys," began Kenny, "Wait…wait a sec!"

But already Tyson and Max had raced to a window, yelled about the view and run away again to find the kitchen. Ray of course had gone immediately to the kitchen, and then to their large eating area, which he surveyed with a happy nod.

Kai stayed in the door way next to Kenny and shared an understanding look with the frustrated boy, who sighed deeply and gave up, moving into the sitting area to wait for the others.

"Say Kenny," mused Tyson, coming out from one of the bedrooms followed by Hilary and Max, with a curious look on his face, "Is it just me, or is this place a little light on for rooms?"

Ray and Kaoru joined them in the lounge space, both equally intrigued.

"It's not just you Tyson, and if you'd been a little less impatient, I would've already told you why."

"Well tell me now!" Grinned the boy and again Kenny sighed.

"This place has three bedrooms and was selected very purposefully by Mr. Dickenson and myself. The first thing you should know is that during this leg of the tournament I won't be living here with you. I won't be far away, and I'll be over a lot to help you strategists, but otherwise I'll be sharing a hotel suit with all the other technicians and strategists here at the New York tournament."

"No way chief!" Cried Max, "Isn't that a little weird? You don't know any of them."

"And a little dangerous." Added Kai, "Given that you've all our data in Dizzi."

"Not at all." Kenny shook his head. "Mr Dickenson has set this up as a meeting of the minds, a sort of learning experience if you will. There will be no sharing of data, and every resident is provided with a high tech safe to guard theirs in, but we will be actively discussing data retrieval and implementation methods as well as strategies and mechanics. It should be very informative." Finished the boy, and grinned brightly.

"Arg." Groaned Tyson, "I can't believe you find that exciting! The thought of it makes my head hurt."

"Unsurprisingly." Said Kai and simply raised an eyebrow at Tyson's glare.

"There's another important thing you need to know regarding this tournament." Continued Kenny. "Mr Dickenson and I reviewed the data we received from the Beijing tournament, and we've detected a major weakness in our team. Anyone have an idea what it is?"

"We're too awesome?" Guessed Max, to wide approval.

"Tag-team matches." Answered Kai, easily. "We've lost most frequently in tag team matches than any other."

"Correct. Good job Kai, at least someone's paying attention." Grinned Kenny, and the others sulked. "We've lost about a third of the tag team matches we've been in, it's our highest percentage lose, compared to a fifth of our battle royals and a tenth or our singles. In terms of strength and skill, you are all brilliant bladers, and our pair-ups are solid, your skills compliment each other's wells, and we have never had problems with teamwork. Yet we are still losing those matches. It is my belief, and Mr Dickenson's as well, that to improve our tag teams you all need to better understand your partner as a person. We all know each other's blading styles well, that's not the concern. What will improve your blading ten-fold will be knowing you partner so well that you know intuitively what they're planning to do in a given moment in the dish, what they want you to do, what they're thinking, and visa-versa. Do you agree?"

"Ah…" Began Ray, "Yeah…It sounds feasible."

"You all already spend a lot of time together, but to increase one on one time between partners…it is both Mr Dickenson's and my decision, and this is non-negotiable, that you will be sharing a bedroom, and bed, with your team mate."

A long silence met his proclamation.

"I understand that for some of you this will mean boy/girl pairings, and that's unfortunate, nonetheless, we feel this is the surest way to increase our prowess in the tournament."

Strangely, it was Ray and Max who objected first.

"I have to share a bed with Ray?" Asked Max, for clarification.

"Yes."

"Isn't that a little gay chief?"

Kenny grinned, "Not if you don't cuddle."

Ray and Max shot each other disgusted looks.

"No." Whispered Hilary all of a sudden. "You can't make me! I won't do it!"

"I'm sorry Hilary, it's unfortunate that you're one of the boy girl pairs, but this is non-negotiable. It is a decision that's been made for the best of the team."

"The team should decide what's best for the team!" Shouted Tyson, just as angrily.

"I understand Tyson, but I'm your strategist, and Mr Dickenson is your manager, and you have to abide by this."

"Then I'll go to someone higher up! You can't make people share a bed if they don't want to!"

"I doubt anyone at the BBA would question Mr Dickenson's decision on this. He represents you Tyson, you are obliged to do as he says."

"I don't think…that this would be good for Kai and I either…" Voiced Kaoru for the first time. She was feeling embarrassed, and a little awkward, made all the more pronounced because she was sitting next to her supposed bed-mate. Nonetheless, she found herself unconsciously leaning towards Kai, as if for protection from this new, scary idea.

"I have to agree." Said Kai, "I understand your reasoning, but this is too much."

Kenny sighed in the face of their more logical argument. "And I understand too, believe me. I'm going to be sharing a room with someone I've never met before in my suit, and I'm not looking particularly forward to that either, but take one for the team ok guys? This will be good for you, and good for us. You're all friends, I'm sure you'll be fine."

The arguments fell away as soon as Kenny revealed he was in their same position. Now they all just looked at him, some solemnly, some guiltily, and waited for what he'd tell them next.

The small boy sighed. "Tomorrow is the opening ceremony. I'll meet you here and we'll head off at ten. You can choose your own rooms, so long as you sleep as allocated. Now, I've got to get my stuff set up, so I'm leaving. Make sure you eat something and good luck!" He waved at them as he left through the door.

For some time after they all pottered around the house, exploring, though less enthusiastically now, and grudgingly picking bedrooms, which they then took alternating turns to dump their bags in, nervous to be in the space together for too long. Ray prepared dinner while the others sat and watched the TV, Hilary next to Max, and Kaoru next to Tyson and Kai happily by himself. They ate and shared small talk and the occasional joke, but entirely avoided the subject of bed.

A time did come, though, after a while, when they all grew tired. Max was the first one to retire, calling loud threats to Ray about waking him if he came to bed much later. Ray left shortly after when the, "coming to bed" jokes got old. Then both boy/girl pairs stood, and gloomily trudged to their rooms.

"It could be worse." Tyson admitted.

"Oh?" Questioned Kai uncaringly.

"We could be sharing a bed." Commented Tyson and raised an eyebrow at his captain.

"Oh. Yeah…" That would have been worse.

"Touch a hair on Kaoru's head and die."

"Make to much noise and I'll cut it off."

"Noise doing what!" Cried Tyson, now beet red, "Cut…cut what off…"

Kaoru giggled and Kai grinned and waved at the couple, "Nighty night!"

Now alone in their bedroom, neither Kai nor Kaoru knew quite what to do. Finally, Kai took a seat at the window and pulled out his laptop, and began to work. Kaoru shyly propped herself up on the headrest of the bed, and began to read her book.

For the next hour of so a rigorous game of pretending ensured. Kaoru, still sitting pensively on their bed, read the same line over and over. Not once realising she was near a hundred pages from where she'd left off.

And Kai typed, at break neck speed on matters that really had no importance, and analysed data that they didn't need.

Then Kai and Kaoru played the "I look up, you look down. You look up, I look down, and we both ignore the issue," game.

Finally, after five minutes of small talk and nervous laughing, Kaoru abruptly stood and announced, "I'm going to bed now!"

"Yeah, okay. Me too." Kai stood up across from her.

They stared at each other.

"So I'll get changed in the bathroom!"

They blushed and turned away, embarrassed to have made the proclamation in unison.

Kaoru giggled.

"You change here, and I'll go in the bathroom. I'll knock when I'm done, just call out if you're ready.

"K." He agreed.

Kaoru slipped her nightgown on and sighed. She turned the tap on and washed her face then took a brush to her hair and, more carefully than was really needed for a night time up-do, pulled it into a ponytail.

For a second longer she stared at herself in the mirror, before surrendering to the pressure that had been building the last few hours and allowing her head to rest heavily on its surface.

"Just when we were getting to be such good friends…" She complained to herself and then chuckled half-heartedly at their predicament.

She felt Aura at the back of her mind. Her presence was positively _oozing_ with amusement and half hidden smirks, but the angel made no move to comment, so Kaoru ignored her.

"Well…" She whispered again, "Here goes nothing."

She knocked on the bathroom door twice.

"Come in." Was the reply.

She took a deep breath and complied.

"So what were you doing on the Nyaaa!....uh…." She jumped back, eyes wide and heart racing.

He was shirtless.

"What?" He raised a brow.

"Uh…no…nothing. You…don't mind not wearing a shirt."

"No. It's too hot, and I'll be more comfortable this way. You've seen it all already, I mean, I assumed you wouldn't mind, you don't mind right?"

"No." She blushed and looked down, "You just…always have one on, you know…bit of a surprise…"

"Good. Do you have a preference for either side of the bed?"

"Uh, I prefer the right, it that's okay. You can have it if you want." Oh God. She was fidgeting.

"I don't mind either. So long as there's blankets and a pillow."

"Oh…Okay." And now she felt stupid.

Kai folded the blankets back and hoped in, hoping that his false nonchalance had been convincing. Kaoru twisted the hem of her dress around her finger three times before quickly slipping in beside him. The nonchalant attitude had been adequate, he determined, but perhaps it hadn't worked in the most desirable way. She seemed very nervous.

Now, actually in bed, Kaoru had taken from twisting her dress to twisting her hair.

Kai watched her out of the corner of his eyes for a while, book propped up between thumb and forefinger in front of him, becoming more and more uncomfortably aware of just how good the warmth of her body was.

She bit her lip.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" He asked her finally. Unable to watch her so uncomfortable in his presence and unable to cope with how comfortable he was becoming in hers.

"No!" She said quickly and then blushed and repeated, "No. Unless you want to of course. I mean…I wouldn't stop you or anything but don't move out on my account, unless I'm doing something to disturb you! Am I? Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" She looked at him with big blue eyes, nervous, worried, concerned. But not for herself; only for him.

He felt a smile tugging at his lips and let it.

Deciding quickly, (before he could change his mind), he closed one hand around one of her balled fists and with his other, tucked a stray hair behind her ear, brushing fingers along her cheek.

Her eyes widened further. It was pretty much Kai's equivalent to a hug.

"Goodnight Kaoru." He said softly, before pulling away and switching off the lamp.

Her doubts vanished in an instant.

"Sleep tight." She whispered into the darkness, a mumbled 'hn', the only indication of her company.

* * *

When he woke he was still on the left side of the bed, still under the covers, and still separated by a good foot from Kaoru. Kai smiled. He'd half feared, just as he'd drifted to sleep, that he'd wake up to find her in his arms, or pressed against him, or on top of him. And he wouldn't be able to move in fear of waking her. Instead he'd wait there, still and embarrassed, for her to wake. Which of course would make things all the more awkward.

Instead, smile still in place (after all, there was no one to see), he stood without worry of waking her, pulled on a loose top, and left the room to the sounds of her quiet, deep breathing.

He had a short shower, took a walk around the block and then made his way back to their suit to get himself some breakfast. He was half done when Kaoru came stumbling out of their room in her bright blue nighty, hair displaced and eyes bleary.

"Morning." He greeted, only looking up for a moment to confirm it was her, before focusing back on the food.

"Hey. You making breakfast?"

"Yep. You want something?"

She brushed hair back out of her face and inspected the food he was fussing with. "Yeh, if you don't mind. Whatever that is."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Scrambled eggs. You should have a shower, you look still half asleep."

"Yeah, well. Got up in a hurry, thought you'd been abducted or something," She grinned, and Kai snorted at the thought. "I'll just be a minute or two."

About five minutes later she was showered, changed and back in the kitchen with him, looking much brighter.

"Yum!" She moaned, at the creamy eggs, and butter smeared toast he'd given her. "These are good Kai!"

"I gathered." He smirked.

"When did you get up?" She asked with a smile.

"Ah…about six I think."

It was surprisingly easy, given they'd spent only the single night together, to talk about when he'd woken up, and how tired she looked. It was like falling into an old pattern, easy and smooth.

"Did you sleep ok?" She ventured, tentatively.

"Yeh, it was a pretty good sleep actually." He'd answered before he'd even put the question together. And yet, he found with Kaoru now, he simply couldn't be bothered lying. "It's a comfy bed huh? And you're not too bad." He smiled. "Thank god I'm not with Tyson, imagine the snoring! Poor Hilary!"

"Aw, Hil's used to it! They'll be fine."

"You're just hoping this'll get them together."

Kaoru laughed.

They spent the remainder of the morning talking, watching kiddie, morning TV, discussing the tournament, and eventually, at Kaoru's insistence, making the bed. For as much as the night had been full of tension and anxiety, the morning was easy and careless. When the others woke up, they were sitting on the couch together, ready for the day, watching Sailor Moon.

* * *

Tyson strode into the arena complex to turning heads and whispered admiration. He knew and commanded this space, and all within its walls appreciated his power.

The bladebreakers walked easily in behind him, chatting and laughing amongst themselves, paying no real attention to the space or to the looks of their peers but nonetheless attracting the same admirable looks and hushed chat. Kai of course brought up the rear, the strength behind his team in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

They met with the All Starz briefly, who were heading to the canteen for lunch, but they needed to check their prep room out so the conversation was short.

Tyson entered the prep room first, and grinned. "Nice." He commented appreciatively.

"On the outside," Kai added, "Come on, let's make sure they haven't missed anything."

It was a very nice prep room, nicer than their one in China. It was quite big with a small side room kitchenette and bar fridge. One wall was home to a technician's desk and all the equipment Kenny would be requiring hung along it. In the centre of the room were a couple of long, modern white leather couches and a fair sized TV so they could watch the tournament while they weren't competing.

Their room was closer than any other prep room to the Stadium Entrance and Kai smirked and assumed their World Champion Title had won them such a prime spot.

They made a full and pleasing inspection of the room, and a very thorough inspection of the bar fridge, courtesy of Tyson, and found everything acceptable. Then for a time they lazed around on the couches, Max upside down with his head hanging of the side, and Kaoru sprawled across Tyson's and Ray's laps, and watched Bey Tournaments that were starting in other parts of the world. When Hilary's stomach grumbled they all laughed at her, but happily hauled themselves up to get ready for lunch.

Kaoru and Hilary had spotted the canteen on their way in and were anxious to check it out. When they reached it Max was instantly by the candies and Tyson at the fried foods. Kai rolled his eyes and peered at the menu. They sat on the plastic chairs at the plastic tables and ate their surprisingly good lunch.

"So when does the whole thing begin again?" Checked Max for the thousandth time.

"About 3." Kai told him, as he'd been doing all day.

"And the time is-"

"2:00. Max get a watch."

Tyson laughed.

They'd polished everything off, and we're heading back to the prep room, all chatting happily about lunch and the tournament, when suddenly Kaoru was no longer beside Tyson, but on the ground. With a blond haired girl on top of her.

"Kaoru-chaaan!" Squealed the girl in a distinctly English accent, before burrowing further into her neck, in what was probably intended as a warm hug.

"N-Nikki!"

"Kaoru I missed you!" Smiled the girl, moving away a little, but only so far as to kneel, propped on her hands above her fallen friend. "And I didn't know you were going to be here I nearly had a heart attack but I'm so happy! It's been forever!"

"Ah…Yeah." Blinked Kaoru from her still reclined position. "It has been, years!"

"OH!" She exclaimed, suddenly realising something, "And you're on Kai's team." Her nose was suddenly pushed against Kaoru's, dirty blond hair hanging around them in a curtain. "You_ have_ to introduce me. Oh, and maybe…undies too. Or boxers or whatever. Because you know how much I love you right?" The big green eyes grew bigger.

Kaoru nodded. "He wore pink ones yesterday, they should be in the wash basket."

"Kaoru!"

Nikki sprang away from Kaoru with startling speed, landing in a crouched, but battle ready position, arms raised in front of her; ninja style. Then she spotted Kai.

"K-K-Kai…" She stammered, cheeks suddenly pink, eyes round, jaw agape and shoulders slack.

Kaoru laughed, and sat up, crossing her legs on the atrium floor.

"Nikki, meet Kai, Kai Nikki." She looked up at the confused boy and clarified, "A friend of mine from the fangirls."

"H-hi K-k-kai…" Managed the girl.

"…Hi…" Returned the boy unsurely.

Suddenly Nikki rounded on Kaoru. "You didn't tell me he was here!"

"Well I wasn't keeping it a secret! I can't believe you didn't see him when you ran up! Who's his biggest fan now huh? At least I noticed him when I first met him!"

"Of course I would have noticed him! It's Kai! He was probably just standing behind," she looked back at the group to find the culprit but her eyes caught Kai again and grew round, her cheeks grew red and she lost her train of thought, "Um…something…"

Kaoru raised a brow. "Hey, are the others here?"

"Others?"

"You're team?"

"Hmm?"

"Tasha, Rachael, Lauren and Annie? Are they here?"

"Mm, I suppose so."

Kaoru frowned. "Hey," She extended a toe and poked the girl.

"Oi!" Nikki jumped and whipped around, "What?"

"Are the others here?"

"Of course, they were going to look at the gym but then they'll be coming to the canteen."

"So they're on their way!" Kaoru beamed, and stood up happily, helping her friend to her feet.

No sooner had they stood than four blonds appeared from around the corner, running towards them.

"Nikki!" Cried the forerunner, "The gym has a Stair Master!", and did a little pirouette of happiness.

"And like a dozen huge beydishes," cried out the third, who's platinum hair hung in loose curls around her face.

They were almost upon the group when the one at the front, whose hair was short and whose eyes were blue-ish green and suddenly vary large, stopped, and each behind her ran one after another into her back.

"Tasha!" Cried the second girl, who had shoulder length hair that fell in loose waves.

"K-k-Kai." Protested Tasha, and the one word caught all their attention.

"Kai." Agreed the one behind.

"Kai."

"Kai."

Kai swallowed. Now, he did not have just one adoring fan gawking at him, but a whole gaggle of them.

Kaoru gasped and ran over to the girls in excitement.

"Annie" She grinned, attempting to catch the platinum blond in a hug, but suddenly a hand was holding her back by the shoulder.

"Can't talk. Kai." Murmured Annie, through a gaping mouth. Kaoru deadpanned. Nikki frowned.

"Girls. Attention!" The cry was army like, and the fangirls immediately whipped around, a salute in place. "Much better." Agreed Nikki, "Now be more polite to your senior Fangirl."

It was then the girls noticed Kaoru.

"Kaoru-sama!" Cried the last in line, a girl with long blond hair and hazel eyes, and threw herself on the girl.

"Hey Rach!" Grinned Kaoru.

The hug was followed by more "Kaoru-sama"s and more hugs that eventually accumulated into a Kaoru pile on.

"Stand down!" Nikki eventually conceded, a smile playing on her face. The command was ignored. "That was an order girls."

Grumbling, they moved away from Kaoru, who broke out of the middle of the pack, gasping for air, but smiling happily.

"Now, about face!" They turned around and again spotted Kai, "Enough drooling girls, greet Kai properly."

The all instantly bowed with a chorus of "Kai-sama!" Kaoru laughed and Kai's brow twitched. He frowned at the girls and then at Nikki. Then a thought took him, and he smirked.

"Aren't you going to bow too? Seems a little hypocritical…" He taunted, and the words made Nikki flush red. However, instead of instantly complying, a moment of defiance passed through her eyes, when she raised her chin and looked down her nose at him, silently telling him she could not be bossed around. Then she bowed, gracefully, and easily in a way that did not seem like a submission at all.

Kai blinked in surprised, and then caught Kaoru smirking at him over the heads of the fangirls.

"Stand down." Said Kaoru simply, and the girls stood up. Kaoru left where she had stood amidst of them, and walked back to her team to stand beside Kai.

"We have to get going." He said to her in a hushed but vaguely desperate voice.

"You just want to escape!" She shot back, with a grin.

"Hey!" Nikki interjected, as if just remembering an important point, "Is Kaoru being good?"

Kai blinked. "Is she what?"

"Being good. Following the code."

Laruen gasped. "You wouldn't break the code." She insisted.

"There's a code?" Asked Ray, brow raised.

"Yes. Of course. She's not being annoying?" Nikki asked again.

"Annoying?" Echoed Kai, and then smirked, "Well, I don't know…"

"Cause if she is we'll defiantly deal with her." Insisted Tasha and the seriousness in all of their faces frightened Kai a little.

"Haha!" Kaoru laughed, somewhat humourlessly, and then looked at Kai pointedly, "I'm not annoying, right Kai?"

"Um…no…" He decided after a moment.

"And you're not unhappy being around her? There isn't someone you'd rather? And she's doing the right things, and helping you out right?"

"Um…" He had no idea what they wanted. "We're…not going out you know…"

"Oh we know." Assured Nikki easily and Kai grew even more unsure of what answer they were looking for.

"Um…yes…happy, no one else, she's'…fine…and yes, helping me…I'm fine."

Nikki seemed appeased by this answer, though Kai had no idea what he'd actually said. "And you're absolutely sure her presence is tolerable?"

"…Yes?"

The girls looked at each other and shared a conversation of raised and furrowed brows, tilted heads, pursed lips and sighs that Kai could make neither heads nor tales of.

"Ok." Nikki finally conceded and nodded to Kaoru, "You have our blessing."

"Um, we're really not going out." Kai tried again.

"We know." Answered all the girls in unison this time.

Kaoru blushed, "It just means I'm allowed to spend time with you." Their only response was more confusion, she shook her head.

"Hey, we should all go out to lunch!" Gushed Annie suddenly, "Or just Kai…or whatever."

"Yeah!" Grinned Kaoru, suddenly excited, and was met with wide approval from the fan girls, and one 'excited-to-be-meeting-other-girls' Hilary.

Kai sighed, and laid a hand on Kaoru's head. "Well," he sighed, "As lovely as this has been, we have a tournament to prepare for." and he turned her head forcefully away from the girls towards their prep room, "Remember?" and began to walk.

"Oh, ok." She managed to turn as he dragged her off, the rest of the bladebreakers following in confusion and mild relief. "We'll catch up for lunch someday!" She yelled to the girls.

"Bring Kai!" They yelled back.

"Will do!" She agreed and Kai glared down at her. "What?"

"Since when did you decide you could just take me wherever you felt like? Or take my boxers for that matter!"

Kaoru grinned.

* * *

The opening ceremony had proceeded more or less to plan, and the Bladebreakers had been welcomed along with the other teams before the rules were gone over, and luck wished to the participants.

Kaoru smirked a little as she opened their ensuite door, and for a moment considered the best way to take advantage of Kai's total lack of attention. With a soft, but decidedly evil chuckle, she launched herself onto their bed, where her captain had been reading, causing him to suddenly startle and bounce. He glared at her, but Kaoru only laughed.

Kai doubted anyone would guess they'd only shared a bed one night. When she sobered, Kaoru sat quite close, and then gently, gauging his reaction, laid her head on his shoulder. He let her, and she began reading his book over it again. But as page after page went by, yet no complaint arose from Kaoru, Kai became confused.

"You're keeping up?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm actually a really fast reader, I was just annoying you in the plane." She grinned.

Kai scowled. "Figures."

Kaoru chuckled. "Who's this by? It's really well written."

He looked down at her, but her eyes were still intently on his book. He'd always liked more sophisticated novels, for mature readers, the kind other kids his age didn't understand and couldn't appreciate. That Kaoru did was somehow very special and he smiled softly, instantly more fond of her.

"You like reading?" He asked happily.

"Mm." She agreed. "I always read a lot when I travelled, it's my favourite hobby."

Kai looked away to keep the smile hidden. He was so glad she understood something he loved, and loved it too. It meant something really important to him.

"Well," He began, "This one's by a writer named Stephanie James. I've got a few of hers actually. I could lend you some?"

Kaoru's eyes seemed to brighten, "Yeah, that'd be great!" Again Kai had to duck his head as a smile threatened to spill out.

"Come on, bed time."

"No!" She whined, "Let's read more. Tell me about this character."

And despite his better sense Kai found her enthusiasm hard to refuse. He told her all about the characters, how they'd met each other, and what had led them to the path they were taking. When Kaoru's head began to droop lower on his shoulder he looked down to find still intent, but half lidded eyes. He shrugged her off and she fell to her pillow with a groaned complain.

"Now," he smiled, "it's bed time." And turned off the light.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey Mr Sleepy head!"

Kai groaned and rolled over. He knew it was far too early to be getting up, simply because he would've already been awake if it wasn't.

Kaoru giggled. "Come on. Does the great Kai Hiwatari roll over in bed and groan when someone asks him to get up in the morning?"

"Are you sure it's the morning?" Kai grumbled into the half dark room.

"Quite sure." She smiled and very subtly took a hold of the edge of the blankets that Kai was gripping.

"What time?"

"5:00"

"And why are you up at 5?"

"I couldn't sleep. Will you come for a jog with me?"

"Come for a what!?" He rolled over to glare at her.

"A J-O-G!" She giggled and as she said it yanked on the blankets she had snatched pulling Kai very unceremoniously onto the floor. "See? You're up now anyway." She grinned.

"This is not my definition of up." Kai glared at her from where he sprawled on the floor.

"Puh-leeease, Kai-kun! I'm so bored and hungry!"

The boy sighed. "Fine, just get lost so I can change." Kaoru gave a whoop and skipped through the door, entirely too happy for a girl awake at 5am.

The sun finally appeared as they started their second lap of the park. Kaoru gasped happily and spread her arms to catch as much of the warmth as possible. Kai rolled his eyes.

He was both surprised and unsurprised she'd managed too keep up with him. The more he knew Kaoru the more he could accept how little he knew about her. There was no point expecting she would fail or expecting she would succeed at a particular task because her skills and shortcomings were random and unpredictable. For instance, her cooking was appalling, but armed with a kettle and plunger, she made a really good cup of coffee, she was lithe and pretty but she could run and fight like an adolescent boy, and though she was loud and excitable, she was quite organised and neat. At this point he'd more or less given up trying to understand her, and now took a more laid back approach to their friendship.

"Ah! I love the sun!" Kaoru squealed suddenly, as though she'd been trying to bottle the outburst up, and then turned three pirouettes on the newly cropped grass before continuing to jog.

It was summer, just the early days of July and the sun was big and yellow and bathed everything in a wash of white, from the grass tips to the skyscrapers, and, into the pond on the other side of their circuit it seemed to sew shimmering, silver sequins to it's surface. It also touched Kaoru; made her skin and her hair glow in such a way as she seemed ethereal, a ghost or apparition. Not of this world, but beautiful all the same.

In some way it concerned him just how much she caught his attention. He knew no girl had every achieved it to the same degree, but there was a voice in the back of his head that protested the concern, that said everything was fine and he was being silly. The truth was, that was what he wanted to believe, that Kaoru was just like every girl, only he now knew her quite well, better than he knew most people, and that was why he saw her differently. And maybe it was the truth; he had nothing to base it on after all. So he accepted that easy truth and was careful no to tread to close to the other, far more terrifying idea that also occupied one corner of his mind.

"Oh Kai!" She spun to face him and continued to job, only backwards, "We have to feed the ducks!"

He smiled. "Got any bread?"

Kaoru blinked, "Oh…no."

Kai chuckled.

The pond was huge, and blue, with grass reeds tumbling out of it and over the sandstone edges. And there were ducks.

Kaoru immediately squealed and ran towards the edge. "Oh! They're so sweet! Look!" She turned to him like a little child hurrying along her parents.

"Terribly sweet." Agreed Kai sarcastically. "Don't stand too close."

She ignored him. "Do you think they're hungry?"

Kai sighed and say on the edge, touching his hand briefly to the water. It was still frigid, even though the air was warm. He grinned. "Yeh, I bet they are hungry. For your fingers."

"Ducks aren't meat eaters Kai!" Scolded Kaoru and knelt on the sandstones, his shoulder in one of her hands and bread in the other as she leaned in to reach the closest duck. "Aw, come on little ducky! I just want to feed you!"

The duck seemed to understand and it's beak snapped open and it was at this point, suddenly, that Kaoru realised what Kai had meant by hungry for fingers, just as the beak snapped back down.

She gave a short, high pitched cry of surprise and tugged her arm back, only she'd done it too hard and immediately became unbalanced, almost falling backwards off the edge but for her hand on Kai's shoulder, and then she threw herself forward, purely instinctually, to counteract the fall, only there was water there, and Kai's shoulder was suddenly not as sturdy and stead fast as it had been as she fell backwards and she kept going, free arm wind milling madly, and tumbled into the water.

When she surfaced it was to a view of her own wet, sticky hair.

"Stupid duck! That really hurt."

"I warned you." Moaned a voice, not from in front of her like she might have expected, but from beside her. She shoved the hair back off her face and turned to find Kai in the water beside her, wet and dripping, and looking distinctly unimpressed.

A hand immediately flew to her mouth to stop her from laughing, but a giggle slipped out all the same. Whenever she'd seen him just out of the shower he'd already towel dried his hair and it was a little wild, but reasonably normal looking. Drenched wet, it hung in limp curtains beside his ears.

"Kai-kun," she giggled, "You look really silly."

"Oh? I thought I'd look cold." He remarked snidely. "Because that's what I am."

She smiled and swam towards him, pushing the curtain of mixed dark and slate blue hair back to see the frustrated boy underneath. "Sorry." She whispered. "Come on, let's get out."

"You make it sound like we're taking a bath." He grumbled, but nonetheless followed when she stood. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. My ego is a little bruised." She laughed. "Are you? Sorry I made you fall in."

"Just cold. Don't worry about it."

"Mm, the sun feels good." She sighed and flopped down on the grass, shivering.

"You're cold too." Kai remarked needlessly and sat next to her.

"It was cold water!" She chuckled. "Don't know how the ducks stand it. Here." She said and crawled over where he sat and leaned against him. "Maybe just a little extra warmth okay?"

Her shivering was worse than it had looked, and it vibrated through his body alarmingly as she curled against him. It was when he heard her teeth chattering that he gave up the nonchalance.

"Geez." He sighed, "How can you be so cold! It's 26C." Despite the frustrated tone he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and when she did nothing more than curl further into the nook of his side, he grumbled and slipped a hand under her knee to lift her easily over his leg. She squeaked as he lifted her, eyes instantly open and alert, but all he did was to place her in the space between his legs, her back to his chest, and wrap his arms around her. "Don't get a cold okay."

"K." She smiled, when the surprise wore off, and then leaned back on him heavily, absorbing all of his heat that she could. Slowly her shivering eased but he did not make to move them, and neither did she.

He couldn't help wonder what would happen if their friends saw, what would they think? In fact, what would any casual observer think, glancing across the park at the couple folded up together on the banks?

They were more ideas he didn't have the will to confront.

Suddenly Kai was the one feeling a cold coming on.

* * *

Tada. The doneness, yay XD I had serious trouble naming this chapter cause I just couldn't think of any better way to describe it than "THE KAIxKAORU" chapter. But that's not a very good name…Nonetheless I'm sure you can appreciate why that's the first thing that came to mind, lol XD I did promise part two would focus a lot on their relationship, did I not XP

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. And I have to tell you that it may be the last one in a while, cause I'm in year 12 this year, and in this country that's the last year of school, so it's a biggy. Also, in this country, right now is coming up to the end of the school year, so exams are looming and university selections and all that. As always, I will try to write when I can, but please bear with me!

And please **Review!** Because I love you XD


	15. Feelings and a Fever

Weeelll..It hasn't been that long has it? XD Lol! Sorry for the wait my precious readers, but, as warned last time I posted I've been rather busy since chapter 14. If you're now asking, "Oh, yeah, sure, and what exactly did you do?" I will give you a quick update, ok!

Since chapter 14, I've: finished high school and remodelled 7 uniforms into 'the 7 dwarves' costumes (turns out I'm the only one in my group who can sew, who knew?), studied for a month non-stop (not exaggerating), done 6 exams, written three essays, passed my VCE with a very good score, thank you very much, successfully gotten into the university course I've been aiming for all year, and even done a little original writing and NCIS fanfictioning on the side. So never fear, I've spent my time well ;)

This chapter I managed to write in 6 days, so yeah, I started on Thursday. Um…not sure how I did that…

I want to dedicate this chapter to darkheart1992, AnimeCrazy88, MrsMonkeyDHitachiinx3, and DarkAngelita, who review almost every chapter. Thank you guys so much for your support!

Enjoy

* * *

**Feelings and a Fever.**

Kaoru stood on the balcony, slouched over the railing and arms hanging down loosely towards the city below her.

"Tyson, I'm going to _kill_ you!"

It was just another average day in the hotel room of the world champion team.

"Just because you know I'm right - ahh!" A pot of eye glitter soared out of the open balcony doors and Kaoru watched its flight with mild, but unconcerned interest.

She was getting bored. The city was beautiful, without a doubt, but she'd been standing looking at it for a while. She briefly considered dropping a spitball down into the masses of pedestrians, but thought better of it. She was a polite person.

"Give my damn phone back or I'll take your balls in compensation!"

Kaoru walked back into the room just as Tyson squealed like a girl and dived behind a couch. She took a pad of paper and walked back out onto the balcony.

"Geez - ah!- Kai, dammit, I'm just, -shit -, looking! Stop," a crash sounded, "attacking me!"

_To dear yourself._ Kaoru wrote. _I am bored._ She tore the sheet and then threw the paper from the balcony, watching it dip and glide down across the streets and out of site. She sighed.

"I don't care what your just doing! Give me my phone dipshit!"

"Come on! We're mates aren't we!"

"NO!"

Kaoru stared across the side of their hotel to a balcony three floors and two rooms across from them that she happened to know belonged to the All Starz. She narrowed her eyes, considering the distance and trajectory, and then, taking a blank sheet, folded it into an aeroplane, aimed and threw.

"We've known each other for years!"

"I've known Ray and Max for years to and I wouldn't let them have my phone either! Give it back!"

The plane flew wide but only by a little. Kaoru's eyes narrowed further at the failure and she stood up, walking back inside and ducking as the phone flew over her head into the hands of a surprised and suddenly terrified Hilary. Kaoru took a paper clip, and walked back to the balcony, watching Tyson swoop down and reclaim the phone as she went.

"Kai you have like 6 contacts!"

"I will throw you off the roof!"

"No, one, two, three - eight! Eight contacts, look!"

She attached the paper clip and as an after thought wrote a short note on the paper. Then, squinting in concentration, threw it at the All Starz balcony. It touched down, sitting outside the door innocently. Kaoru began to cackle in delight.

_We are gonna beat your asses. Love, Kaoru._

"You are dead!"

"Wah! Ray save me!"

Over her current entertainment Kaoru turned to watch the fight. Tyson had fled behind Ray, still clutching Kai's phone.

"How do you do it, huh, Kai? You have girls throwing themselves at you everyday, and yet the only people you've got numbers from are us, Kenny, Hiro and Mr. Dickenson."

"Ever consider that I don't want to talk to stupid fangirls, moron?"

"Yeh," Tyson laughed, "Or actually just once they realise what a total asshole you are they forget to give you the number to call them back on."

"I'm just not as interested as you are, Tyson. Give me my phone."

"So your gay?"

"I'm not gay! Give me the phone!"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow, amused as Max restrained Kai, Ray shielded Tyson and Hilary stood between looking worried.

"But you're not interested…."

"No, I'm just not desperate. Like you apparently are. At least I don't have a crush that I'm just too cowardly to admit. Right Tyson? How's it coming with Hilary anyway?"

"I'm not desperate!" Cried Tyson, suddenly being restrained by Ray instead of protected, "And I don't like Hilary!" He tacked on, loudly.

Kaoru smiled at the scene, resting her chin on a fist, and elbow on crossed legs.

"Bullshit, anyone with half a brain knows you do. Oh, wait, no, I guess you wouldn't then."

"Dammit! Shut up you jerk! The truth is your such an antisocial ass you couldn't get a date if you tried!"

"So your blind and dumb!" Sneered Kai, "Just a moment ago you were going on about the masses of girls that threw themselves at me! And you don't think one could be persuaded to date me?"

"Well then none of them could possible enjoy a date with you!"

"And what's the wager?" Kaoru asked politely, coming to stand beside Hilary.

Faces turned to her in surprise, Tyson and Kai finally falling quiet.

"The what?" Asked Tyson, blinking.

"What's the wager? What are the rules and what's the reward if Kai succeeds?"

They continued to stare at her.

"I propose that if Kai wins, and manages to make a girl enjoy a date with, then you become his slave for a day, Tyson." The boy gaped. "Naturally, however, if Tyson wins, and indeed said girl does not enjoy the date, Kai becomes Tyson's slave. What do you think?"

"I think I could use a slave." Kai grinned.

"What? You jerk; who said you'd win? There's no way. You're gonna be my slave before you know it!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Kaoru smiled. "So, rules, the date must be planned and executed by Kai solely, and can go on as long as he sees fit for the girls enjoyment. The girl can be anyone."

"Accept you and Hil." Tyson cut in, "You two are bias, you'll say you enjoyed yourself just to make me be his slave."

Kaoru laughed, and Hilary blinked, then smiled guiltily. "Alight, not us then. But to test if the date was a true success, Hilary or I will ask the girl what she thought of going out with Kai without her knowing it was a dare. She'll feel like she can tell the truth to us, and she'll say if it was bad or not."

There was a pause.

"I guess." Grumbled Tyson, maybe realising that this wasn't the best idea.

"Fine." Agreed Kai.

"I doubt you can even get a girl, asshole."

"Oh you just watch, idiot."

"Hey, how long does he have for this Kaoru?"

"Hm…How about we say until midnight tomorrow?"

"What!" Cried Kai, eyes suddenly bulging.

"Hah!" Tyson yelled jubilantly. "Let's see how you do now!"

Kaoru smiled and winked at Kai. "Don't look so betrayed. Would I let you down?" And whipped out her phone, the others watching curiously as she dialled a number.

It rang for only a moment.

"Hey." Kaoru grinned as the voice of her friend poured into her ear. "Yeh…yeh I know it was super exciting. Yeh, I'm sure." She laughed a little. "Hey, listen, I've got an offer for you which I think you will like." She smiled, at looked at Kai with amusement and wicked intent shining in sapphire eyes. "How about a date with the one and only Kai Hiwatari?" The phone screamed and Kaoru held it away from her ear.

"What!" Cried Tyson at the same time. "You can't help him like that!"

"No," Kaoru assured her friend while the phone continued to shriek and squeal. "I can't help him with anything to do with the date. No one ever said I couldn't help him with the girl." She put the phone back to her ear. "So when are you free." A tumbled of excited words poured out of the phone for several minutes. "Yeah…" Kaoru agreed unsurely. "So later today? 2:00 sounds good. Yeah, he's looking really forward to it." She laughed. "Ok, see you later! Bye!"

She hung up.

"You have a date at 2 o'clock Kai-kun. Looks like you won't be needing two days after all!"

The whole group gaped at her.

"And…uh…" Kai frowned at her, "My date is?"

Kaoru smirked. "Oh? You met her earlier, remember? Nikki!"

"What!" Cried Tyson and Kai in unison.

"That's not fair! She's obsessed with Kai!" Burst Tyson, while Kai just sunk to the floor, shell-shocked at the idea of going on a date with a fangirl.

"Uh-uh," Kaoru waged a finger, grinning. "The agreement was ANY girl." She began to walk away from the group humming, "Oh," She suddenly remembered, and turned around. "I'll be putting $50 on Kai, if anyone wants to bet me." She winked, and disappeared. New entertainment procured.

* * *

When Kai had asked Kaoru where he was meeting Nikki for their date (the word make him shudder) she'd frowned at him and said, "I can't help you with the date remember?" Instead she'd given him the room Nikki was staying in, and her phone number.

Unsurpsingly he'd opted to text her, rather than picking her up.

Now he sat uncomfortably on the booth side of a table set for two in a little café near to, but not in sight of their hotel. The café was decorated in shades of reds and whites, the tables small and quaint, and made of polished wood, and a counter set along one side, playing host to one very big, very expensive looking coffee machine, and a display of fifty odd little cakes, slices and sweets. He thought he'd done pretty well on location, for someone who'd never had a date in his life.

That was the thing, and he'd never let Tyson know it, but he was nervous. More so because it was a fangirl and god, if he had to sit there for hours being told how wonderful he was he was going to take that big cream puff and shove it down his throat until he stopped breathing and died.

The bell on the door chimed happily and he looked up to see Nikki come through it, a little smile on her face as she spotted him.

"Hi." She blushed.

"Hey." He returned unsurely.

She sat down, her eyes moving towards the counter and cake display, part in curiosity and part in shyness. Kai guessed it was probably a big deal to go on a date with your idol.

"Thank-you." She said suddenly, just as Kai was feeling the need to fill the silence. He looked back at her and found happy green eyes looking up at him without fear or inhibition, shining sincerely. "For taking me on a date."

"Your welcome." He answered, and it was, surprisingly, the truth. He liked the sincerity in her smile, and the boldness that few other girls besides Kaoru had, to look him straight in the eyes. "Kaoru said that, uh, you'd always been a fan of mine, and that a date would really mean a lot to you so, I thought, why not."

And then she grinned, "Yeah, I'm sure! Really though, what did Kaoru do to force you into this?" She asked, and suddenly all shyness fled and she laughed at the thought, and his obvious lie.

Kai scoffed, upset to be found out for lying, and yet for some reason liking her more as the girl took no offence from finding out her date had been a sham. Nonetheless he felt the need to regain control, and remembering their meeting, asked haughtily, "Shouldn't you be bowing now?"

Nikki's laugh trailed off and she raised a brow. "Oh, I don't know. You asked me on the date, maybe you should be bowing." She returned, and a smile that said she was very pleased with her spread across her lips.

Kai fought it, but found despite his best efforts his own amused smirk on his face. "I don't think so."

Nikki was a not a submissive fangirl, like so many others. She liked being in control, and was bold enough to try it even with him. He thought about the way she controlled her team like an army, the rough, loud commands, and their easy, automatic obedience. He liked her, and wondered when he'd started liking people so easily. When he'd started to be able to talk to people and joke so easily.

The waiter came to their table and Kai ordered himself a jumbo cappuccino, and an almond croissant. When he'd finished they both looked to Nikki, but she smiled at him and asked, "Why don't you order for me."

He didn't hesitate. "She'll have tap water and an assortment of scraps from you bin."

The waiter blinked and the girl kicked him under the table, making Kai yelp in surprise and pain. Nikki frowned. "I'll have what he's having." She insisted to the waiter, "But a muffin instead of the croissant, please. Blueberry." The waiter nodded and walked away looking worried.

"That's why they say 'be careful what you wish for.'" Kai smirked, and again wondered at his newfound social skills. Was it Kaoru?

"You jerk." Grumbled Nikki, frowning, but behind it all he caught a little smile, and suddenly knew his competition with Tyson was in the bag. Trust Kaoru to find the one person he could actually have an alright time with, who'd have an alright time with him too.

"Okay," He was just going to have to put his faith in Kaoru's girl picking for now, "Turns out I can actually stand being around you."

The girl laughed, "Well, gee, what a relief."

He glared a little at the interruption but kept going, thanking his lucky stars (and Kaoru) that he'd been right and she wasn't offended. "So I've been wondering about something."

"And you think I can clear it up." Nikki filled in easily.

"What's the code?"

That made the girl blink. "The code?"

"The thing you were going on about the other day. Whether Kaoru was being good, and…following the code. Right?"

Nikki smirked, "You want to know the fangirling code?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Say pleaaaase."

Kai glared.

"Puh-leeeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeee." Nikki sounded it out for him.

"I would like to know the fangirling code, _pleeeeeease._" Kai sneered. The girl giggled.

"Okay, then. Well, as you can imagine fangirl groups are quite, uh…difficult to coordinate, what with the whole organisation pretty much going after just one guy. If someone gets him the others get angry, jealous, they want to stop being friends with her, and then she ends up unhappy when she should be over the moon and it's just a big mess."

Kai nodded.

"So that's why fangirl groups really need some kind of code, so that they can maintain peace and equality, and of course, happiness between their members. There are more or less two main types of groups. The first is the 'Everyone gets the toy or no one gets it' rule, kind of pre-schoolish." She giggled. "So, because not everyone can get the guy, no one is allowed to get him. It's a looking but not touching agreement. Our group doesn't work like that though."

Kai groaned suddenly, and Nikki laughed. How he'd have liked a looking but no touching policy. "So your group?"

"Our group believes in the chance to meet out idol, to speak to him and maybe have a relationship with him. We don't want to deny our members that ability. But since that means that not everyone will be happy, we have an agreement that we must make the most important person happy. And the most important person, is of course, you, Kai."

The boy looked up from where he had been becoming more and more depressed at words like, "relationship", to find Nikki smiling at him softly.

"Our group agrees that, so long as you're happy, we'll be happy. Even if it's not us who make you happy. But that's why, if a fangirl begins to get close to you, she has to be doing it in a way that isn't annoying or upsetting to you, or else it's not ok with the code, you see?"

The boy nodded numbly.

"And that's why we asked Kaoru if she was being good, and that you weren't getting sick of her. It may seem a little silly for you, but it's important to us."

He nodded again, and then a thought struck him.

"Do you think that's why Kaoru's always so nice to me? Just because she has to be?"

Nikki's bright eyes flew open in surprise and their food took that moment to arrive.

While the waiter placed the meals before them Nikki scrutinised Kai. The soft worry line in his brow that he was trying to hide, the suddenly unhappy eyes, and the down turned lips that, thought they were a regular sight on his face, seemed to give away a deeper sadness.

And suddenly it clicked.

Nikki grinned, eyes curved and excited as she leaned forward over the table and her muffin, bracing herself on an elbow as she looked at him.

"What?" He questioned when her silence, and delighted face began to scare him.

"You, Kai Hiwatari," she began, joyously and eagerly, as though she had just discovered some very valuable treasure, "You, like Kaoru."

Time stopped.

"She's my friend."

"But you _like _like her."

"I what?"

"You're friends, but you want to be more than that. You _like_ her."

"I…what on earth makes you say that!" He asked, eyebrows pulled together tightly in disapproval and confusion. And just a hint of a blush touching his face.

"The look of mortified worry on your face when you wonder if she's just being nice to you because she has to." Nikki filled in with a smile.

"I don't like her."

"Uh-huh."

"I don't."

"Mm-hmm."

"Say a word!"

"Sure."

"Dammit!"

Nikki laughed, taking a bite from her muffin as she revelled in the sight of Kai's cheeks flaming red; one she never would have thought she'd see.

"You like her." She said matter-of-factly around the really good muffin.

Kai snorted, seeming to overcome the shock. "Prove it."

Nikki smirked. "Oh. I will."

After finishing their food the couple took to the streets, Nikki wrapping her arm around Kai's happily as they walked and she steered the conversation.

"So is my date over or is there more?" She asked cheekily.

"What do you want to do?"

"I..." She thought, "Would like to see a movie. Your shout of course."

"Of course. What movie?" He grumbled, Nikki giggling at his sarcastic tone.

"Oh, well, I'd hate to drag you into something you didn't like. Or maybe you do like chick flicks? Hmm?"

He gave her a look that answered the question without words. She laughed.

"Well what movies do you want to see? Then I'll pick."

They ended up seeing a fast-paced action, with crashes, and guns and explosions, which Nikki seemed to enjoy just as much as him to his great astonishment. Afterwards, when she insisted they take a walk through the park, he found himself not minding as her, happy voice replayed the movie over from start to finish, commenting on the acting here, cinematography there, and her favourite part, when the car had exploded.

She was a good person, if a little loud, and her company was, as much as Kai found anyone's company, enjoyable. It was a bit like being with Kaoru, as far as easy, stress-free conversation.

"Feel like an ice-cream Kai?" Nikki asked, breaking him away from his thoughts, and directing his attention to a little, rather high-end looking ice-cream parlour across the street.

"You sound like Kaoru." He snorted, nonetheless turning to walk with her towards the place. "Is liking ice-cream part of the code too?"

Nikki ignored him, "Aw, you know her so well." She cooed instead.

"You don't have to know Kaoru well to know she likes ice-cream."

The girl chuckled.

Nikki pondered the flavours for minutes, before finally deciding on an almost frighteningly blue, bubble-gum one. Kai only skimmed the flavours once before ordering something with praline in the name.

"Your teeth will go blue." He commented as he paid for them both.

"Maybe I want blue teeth." She smiled.

"Maybe you were dropped on your head as a child." That made the girl laugh.

"And maybe you should remove that icicle from your arse!"

He rolled his eyes, and gave up the battle.

"Mm," Nikki moaned, taking a lick of the horrid blue thing, "It's good though. What have you got? It looks yum."

"Something praline. Kaoru always gets them." It was only as he said it that the mistake registered, "I mean-"

Nikki snorted, then made a very ungraceful attempt to swallow the large bit of blue ice-cream in her mouth before laughing loudly at him.

"Shut up." He grumbled.

"You know her favourite ice-cream flavour!"

He glared.

"Kai." Nikki laid a hand on his arm, as if explaining something to a toddler, as they walked back into the streets. "You know Kaoru's favourite ice-cream flavour. You pick it when you get ice-cream. You _like her Kai._"

"It's a nice flavour."

"You know Kaoru's favourite ice-cream."

"Will you stop? I don't like her!"

Nikki gave him a sly, devilish smile, and almost sang, "You know Kaoru's favourite ice-cream."

Kai frowned. "If I didn't know any better I'd say Kaoru set this all up."

Nikki blinked. Then laughed. "I take it back! You really don't know her at all."

For some reason that made him frown more.

"Oh come on." The girl smiled. "Kaoru steers away from love like it's a deathly plague. You think she'd employ me to talk you into liking her?"

"Then why are you?"

"Because you do!"

"I don't!"

"Oh Kai," Smiled Nikki, "I'm almost glad you're so delusional. Because one day, you're going to look back on this, and realise that I was right, and you were wrong."

* * *

When quizzed on how their date had gone, Nikki only had nice things to say. She gushed about how conversational he'd been, she hadn't expected it, and how he'd taken her to a movie she'd been dying to see, instead of a chickflick he thought all girls would like, and finally, how he'd shouted her ice-cream on the way home, her favourite treat and something she'd been craving. It was one of the best dates she'd had in ages.

Needless to say, Tyson lost the bet, and lost fifty dollars to Kaoru, as he'd been the only one silly enough to put money on his success. He became Kai's slave for the next twenty-four hours, serving as, among many things, a footrest, a personal feeder, and, to the benefit of the entire team, a cleaner.

When Kai woke in the morning it was to a sneeze and a light sweat. He frowned and disregarded the symptoms as something up his nose and too many blankets, but called Tyson in to bring him tissues for fun.

"Are you alright?" Kaoru asked, watching him worriedly as he blew his nose and dabbed his brow with Tyson's offerings before sending the boy to find more, claiming they weren't soft enough.

"Fine, just too many blankets."

"Really? I slept fine." She frowned, and leaned across to his side of the bed to lay a hand across his brow. "You're hot."

He tried to ignore the soft, long fingers where they brushed him. "You were part of the fangirls how long, and your only now figuring that out?"

"Ha-ha." She rolled her eyes. "I mean it Kai, you feel hot." She checked against her own forehead for comparison, "And you look a little pale too."

"I am pale. Stop worrying."

"You're pale and stubborn." She corrected, suddenly leaning forward to touch his forehead to her own.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her so close, sapphire eyes, suddenly big and round with worry, lashes each defined at this distance, and the tip of her nose just lightly brushing his. It made Nikki's words flood back into his head with a roar.

"Yep, and hot." She nodded against him.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're sick. Or, at the very least you're getting sick. You need to lye down and rest."

"No." He corrected her, pulling away when he realised her forehead was still against his, "I need to go to the beystadium and captain my team to victory today in our first match."

"You need to rest."

"I need to beyblade. And I'm not sick, I'm fine. We have a doubles battle today, _you_ need me."

"We'll make it a battle royal."

"We won't make it anything." He got out of the bed defiantly, ignoring Tyson when he came to the door with the promised softer tissues. "I'll blade. We'll blade. Discussion over. And what are you doing here?"

Tyson opened his mouth to respond.

"Leave!"

And did a 180 and left.

By the time they arrived at the beystadium for their first round in the tournament however, the 'light sweat' had manifested into pronounced and exceedingly hard to disguise fever, and the sneeze had gone in favour of a blessedly soft, but unfortunately wheezy and sickly cough.

Kaoru was frowning at him without censor, but thankfully it seemed the others had yet to catch on, and he was hiding the symptoms well. When they arrived in the prep room he excused himself and went and stood in the wings, happy to be able to wheeze and cough as loudly as he wanted in peace while he tried not to concentrate on the pounding, aching heat the was invading his head and limbs.

"Five minutes to game Bladebreakers."

Kai sighed, and trudged back to the prep room. They were to face the Golden Order team, who, it seemed, were all fabulously wealthy and had earned there place in the tournament by paying for new innovative technology to be installed on their blades. Kai anticipated no challenge, the blades were first class, but the bladers behind them were inexperienced and naïve and Kai was sure his vastly more experienced team could take them with ease.

"How's it coming Kenny?" Asked Kai, standing near the small boy's workbench, where he was currently tinkering with Max's blade.

"Good." Smiled the boy, "All the blades are in good working order, and I think our match ups are strong, if indeed they send who we expect them to. Hilary and Max have gone over the strategy with me a few times, and Kaoru's almost over confident of beating your two opponents. She says she'll do it without you." He laughed.

"I'm sure she does." Scowled Kai, knowing that the reason for her self-reliance was not confidence but his health.

"Kai." And speak of the devil.

"What?"

"I really don't want you to do this. I spoke to Tyson, and he's happy to be my partner for today."

"You told him-"

"That Mr. Dickenson wanted to talk to you about something." Kaoru frowned. "Trust me a little won't you? The other's are also happy to do a battle royal."

His body was getting hotter; he could feel it creeping out from the base of his neck. But he shook his head, ignoring the dizzy swirl it brought on. "No. We need Max and Hilary to be fresh to face those expensive blades, and you and Tyson haven't partnered in a while. I'm fine. Forget it."

"But-"

"Forget it Kaoru. I mean it." He glared at her and she shut her mouth and glared right back. Following his orders because he was her captain, but not happy about it.

He sat on the couch quietly until they were called out, and then walked a pace behind them as usual, focusing on keeping his breathing steady and deep.

"Give it up for…The BladeBreakers!" Called DJ Jazzman, and the crowd erupted, the noise making Kai groan softly as it penetrated his sore head.

"Both teams are choosing a doubles battle today, AJ."

"So I hear Brad, and it's shaping up to be a good match. I know I'm personally hoping to see Kaoru blade today."

"I hear ya AJ, after her explosive come from behind victory in the China tournament, I think a lot of people out there are wondering what more we can expect from the newest BladeBreaker. I sure am."

"Let's hope they send her today Brad."

Kaoru barely head the announcers as she focused on setting the team up on the sidelines and then readying herself for her participation in the first match. While she took out her blade and readjusted her launcher, she watched Kai, becoming more and more worried by the minute about their battle.

"The first match will be a doubles battle!" Cried Jazzman. "From the Golden Order…" He checked for confirmation, "Alice and Daniel! And from the Bladebreakers…Kai and Kaoru!"

Kai strode towards the beydish confidently, and Kaoru followed him, frowning worriedly at the back of his neck.

"Kai," She tried once more as they stood side by side on the edge of the beydish.

"Enough." He interrupted. "We will blade, and we will win. This team will improve in its doubles battle capability and grow even stronger. We are setting an example."

"Bladers ready?" Asked Jazzman before Kaoru could respond.

"Ready." Answered Kai immediately for their side.

"Ready." Confirmed the other team.

"Then 3, 2, 1, Let It Rip!"

Ignoring the unease she felt Kaoru launched her blade and it exploded into the dish beside Kai's. Across from them the high tech blades of the team hit the dish. One was silver and had great long spikes protruding from it the glittered in the light like diamonds, and the other was black and very small, but very fast.

The silver blade balanced easily in the middle of the dish while the black one took off around the side towards them, both Kaoru and Kai immediately moving to take evasive action. But the black blade was far faster and it caught up to them with embarrassing ease. They had no time to turn around, the black blade only gaining with each spared second, and shared one brief, fleeting look in which crimson and sapphire met and understood each other, before their blades made a turn, Kai's using it's light, lither build to spin suddenly, sharply towards the middle, and Kaoru's instead taking off towards the outer edge of the dish.

They'd taken their inexperienced opponents by surprise and the speedy black blade was in front of them before the blader realised they were no longer there. The silver blade, too slow to respond to the sudden change of tide received for it's blunder a massive full frontal attack from Kai that sent it crashing into the side of the dish, and slightly off balance when it landed. Kaoru's blade spun up the edge of the dish, flew into the air, flipped over, and landed back in the dish, in prime position to attack either of their opponents.

"Damn it!" Cursed the girl with brilliant white blonde hair across from them. "What the hell Daniel! Why didn't you attack them!?"

The purple haired boy scowled. "Don't you talk Alice. You were just sitting in the middle of the dish waiting for me to do all the work!"

"Dranzer, flaming gigs inferno."

"Dammit! Kalzar, evade!"

"Defence Floreian!"

Having had her blade move safely behind Kai when she'd seen him go into battle position, Kaoru watched with interest as the black blade zoomed out of the line of the incoming attack, while the silver one used its lethal spikes to defend. She frowned. Inexperienced or not, money had brought them first class blades if both were able to stand up against Dranzer like that.

"Kalzar!" Called the boy, Daniel, and a great orange hummingbird rose from the blade to face the phoenix across from it, the two birds fighting in a clash of talons and beaks.

"Floreian!" The silver blade glowed as Alice hurried to back up her partner, their argument now seeming forgotten. From her blade a giant, grey, armoured spider rose.

It was appropriate for the many-spiked blade, Kaoru thought, looking at the many-legged creature and shuddering.

"Aura!" The angle appeared just in time to intercept the spider as it made a beeline for Kai. "Faithspell!" She called, and as Aura fought, her wings and fingers glowed a blue-purple light, that became tendrils that reached towards Kaoru before the spell connected and they vanished. She smiled, feeling the slight presence of the angel in her, and allowing her access to all the information she knew about the team and their currant opponent.

When she'd felt Aura absorb the last of it, and change immediately from the full attack strategy she usually favoured to one the alternated between bouts of attack and defence to accommodate the supreme power of the spider bit, she turned her attention to Kai's battle, knowing for the moment that Aura could handle herself.

"They're strong." She whispered, and saw him shake his head.

"They're not strong, just their blades. The spider girl is worse though, she'll be harder than this guy to beat."

Kaoru nodded. "So why don't we take him out now? I'll help.."

Kai instantly knew what she meant and nodded, almost a little too eagerly. He was feeling ill, and ready to get this stupid battle over with.

"Aura," she called, "Shadow reaper!"

The angel beat her wings and darkness spread from them, filling the dish like liquid, obscuring the bitbeasts and their battle and spilling up and over the edges to pool around the bladers' feet. Though she could not see what was happening behind the veil of black, Kaoru focused on what she wanted done, willing the darkness to compress down on the spider and bird bit, suffocating them and suppressing their attacks. Then she only had to trust Aura to not be in the way.

Ignoring the confused cries, and useless attack commands of the other team, she counted, giving the angel ample time to take evasive action. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

Without any other confirmation Kai understood. "Dranzer! Fire arrow!"

The shadow reaper was not focused on suppressing his power, and Dranzers attack exploded within the blackness, tearing rips in its surface that spewed fire into the arena. The shadow reaper deflated and disappeared, and from within it the black blade Kalzar flew past his master and landed on the floor behind.

"Shit." Swore the boy, looking over his shoulder at his blade dejectedly.

"Argh!"

Their attention snapped to the girl as she screamed in frustration.

"Damn! You may be the world champions, but don't you dare think you've beaten us yet!" Her rage seemed to reverberate in the air, and above them and the beydish, dark rain clouds grew suddenly in earnest. "Floreian, Storm Tempest!"

It began to rain, and where the droplets touched their bitbeasts, they burned and smoked.

"What!" Kaoru gasped, staring wide-eyed at the attack as Aura cried out silently in pain.

"Acid rain." Frowned Kai angrily as he attacked the opposing blade only to be deflected by the spikes.

"Aura." Kaoru insisted, "Shadow Reaper!" The darkness flared out of the spirits wings again and then fought with the rain attack, each keeping the other at bay, and where they met forming dark, sickly black smoke. "Ugh." Kaoru groaned under the stress of the attack.

"Dranzer…Blazing gigs."

The fire attack flared out, and somehow, between the two of their attacks they managed to wound the spider bit enough that the deadly rain ceased to fall.

The girl screamed. "Floreian!"

The silver blade went back on the attack, slamming into both of their blades furiously, like she wasn't out numbered and out classed.

"Aura!" Commanded Kaoru, and her blade fought back, but where she'd expected Kai's to do the same, no command came.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him step back suddenly as though to catch himself, his head bobbing as he did so just a little too loosely in place, and she knew what had happened. She looked at him quickly, and saw as she'd expected his eyes rolled half into his head, and a light sheen of sweat across his brow and nose.

She swore. What perfect timing.

"Kai." She hissed softly, "Any chance this is going to get better?"

He didn't answer her, and that was all the answer she needed. She nodded.

"Put your hand on my shoulder." By some miracle he didn't question her, and did as she said. "Now hold tight, don't you dare faint ok? Open your eyes properly and look forward at the battle. Look confident and sure, like you know what we're about to do and it's all your idea and everyone in this stadium better be afraid of you."

Again the boy did as she said. Though his vision was a haze of heat and pain and dizziness, he locked unseeing eyes on the battle before him, forcing his brow into its usual sure, straight line, and his lips into a familiar confident smirk.

To an outsider their image now gave away a notion of a superior, senior team member, giving support and permission to his underling to try something she found a bit difficult.

"Look at this Brad," Came AJ's voice from the commentators box. "What do you think the Bladebreakers are doing?"

Kaoru ignored them, "Ok. Now whatever happens don't look surprised, and don't let go! Remember, this is your idea, and you're proud of it. Ready?"

The hand on her shoulder gripped just a little tighter. She took that as a yes.

She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and then pushed all her energy and authority into her voice.

"Aura! Spirit Bow! Dranzer! Flame Saber!"

The audience gasped and she felt Kai's hand grip her, as both bitbeasts reared up to execute the command, Aura pulling back into the familiar stance and Dranzer gathering flames like it would any other attack. But it wasn't any other attack, and surprise rang through the stadium, from the commentators, their opponent, and the crowd.

No one should be able to control another's bitbeast.

A second passed and the Spirit arrow was in the air, leaving a trail of feathers in its wake, and then Dranzers fire attack was soaring through the air after it. The fire touched the arrow and engulfed it, so that it became a flaming arrow instead that pierced the defence of the spider bit. At beyblade lever, both Kaoru and Kai's blades hit the silver one at once, and with a whoosh of air, it soared out of the dish, and crashed to the floor.

A cheer went up among the confusion.

"Look confident." Kaoru spoke quietly again to Kai. "Smirk. Then turn around and walk. I'll be right behind you. You just have to make it to the wings. You're not hurrying, you just don't have time for armatures like this, and you're frustrated."

Kai did as she said, though every step sent a spin of dizziness over his head, just to the wings, try to look confident, smirk, no time for armatures.

Kaoru stayed on the beydish a moment longer and looked at their competition with contempt before collecting their blades and then wheeling to follow Kai. As she passed their team she nodded quickly to them, and let the confidence drop from her eyes to betray the worry. They understood and followed, Kenny sending a quick call to the commentators that they needed a brief recess to debrief after the last match.

"Oh Kai!"

The boy had made it about 5 meters into the wings, and stood still, his hand holding a pounding head as he slumped forward. Kaoru rushed to him, any annoyance gone as she threaded an arm around his waist to hold him up.

"Ray!" The black haired boy was on Kai's other side in a moment, his arm immediately around Kai's shoulders.

"What's going on?"

"Kai are you alright!" Gasped Hilary, as the others reached them.

Kaoru shook her head, wondering if Kai would give her double training for revealing he was sick. "Let's get him to the prep room."

With a sigh Kai slumped on the couch as soon as they let him go, hand covering his eyes and breathing deeply and slowly. The battle had been too much for him, Kaoru realised, and his ill body was protesting the exertion.

"Kai." She sighed, and knelt before him hands on his knees. When he didn't answer she lifted her hand and touched the back of it to his forehead, eyes softening when she felt the sickly heat.

"Hey, what's going on?" Max suddenly questioned, when all else was silent, "What's wrong with him? And what was that move? You shouldn't be able to control Dranzer in a battle."

"Quiet." She shushed him at once, her concern elsewhere. "Kenny, sit next to Kai. Ray, next to Kenny. Open Dizzy. Kai," She addressed the boy more softly, "Look at the screen ok? It'll be better if you have your head facing down." He nodded and did as she said. "Hilary will you get him a drink? Max and Tyson on that couch, turn the TV on."

Ray and Kenny did as she said immediately, having both already understood that something was wrong. Hilary hesitated in confusion, before doing as Kaoru asked, and the two others, who were more annoyed about not knowing of the new technique than worried about Kai, frowned at her before grudgingly doing as they were told.

"Is Kai sick?" Hilary asked gently when she came back with the water.

Kaoru sighed, and then nodded, hoping he wouldn't kill her for admitting it. "Yeh. Look, we have some damage control to do." She stood up. "Now you're all going to sit here and pretend everything's normal while I go lie to the spectators about that little move I just pulled. If someone comes in asking about the battle, you tell them I'm making the statement as we speak, and you won't comment on it further. If they come here for anything else, tell them to leave, if they don't, call security."

Ray nodded and that was good enough.

"I'll be back in a minute."

She left through the wings and the room went quiet.

"Are you ok Kai?" Asked Kenny carefully.

The boy growled, "Fine."

And then Kaoru's face flashed on the TV.

"Kaoru! What a battle! Can you tell us a little about it?" The commentators had come down from their box to interrogate her, and Kaoru smiled politely.

"Sure, what would you like to know?"

"Well for a start, what on earth was that technique?"

She laughed. "We've been working on it for a while, Kai and I. You see, I've always had a bit of an ability when it comes to communicating with bitbeasts, so Kai thought we'd try to utilise it in battle. It took a lot of work on both our parts, but as you can see, the results are fantastic!"

"Absolutely!" Agreed Brad Best excitedly, "I've never heard about someone being able to control another bitbeast."

"Well, there's a bit more too it than that, but I'm sure you'll understand if we don't give away all our secrets."

"Of course," Smiled AJ, "But why use it now? In the first game you've played in the American tournament, in the first round?"

Kaoru frowned at the difficult question, working fast to find a plausible answer. "It's not a technique we'll use often." She admitted, "It's quite difficult to do and consumes a lot of energy, but we wanted to send a message to all the teams out there. We're the BladeBreakers, and we're world champions for a reason. We can do anything we set our minds to and we will be winning the America tournament, and the world tournament after it!"

A couple more questions and some friendly banter later and Kaoru was able to politely slip away back to her team.

"Gee AJ." Brad Best grinned on screen; "I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to be facing the BladeBreakers after that!"

"I hear ya Brad! I hear ya."

When Kaoru walked back into the prep room all eyes fell on her at once.

"Lie." She answered the question before it could be asked. "Come on, you guys know I can talk to bitbeasts. This shouldn't be _that_ much of a shock for you?"

"But why not use it all the time then?" Asked Tyson frowning.

"Why use it all the time?" She returned. "If Kai is beside me, perfectly capable of telling Dranzer what to do himself, why should I do anything."

That silenced them. It made perfect sense.

"Besides, I wasn't lying when I said it take a lot of energy and concentration. Plus I need to be touching him to do it." A couple of the team nodded at that, remembering Kai's hand on her shoulder, "So you know, that would involve, what? Holding his hand while we fought? Plus, Dranzer's not my bit. She doesn't have to do what I say. Today she understood the situation we were in and decided it was best to cooperate but on a normal day you think she'd sell her obedience to me just to put on a show?" Kaoru quirked a brow in question.

The team sat in silence, all understanding suddenly of why they'd never heard of her ability to do this.

"So in other words it's perfectly useless." Grumbled Kai tiredly from the couch.

She snorted. "Yeah. Impressive, but useless. Unless of course your teammate is fainting." She growled pointedly.

Tyson laughed. "You sound pissed Ru!"

"Pissed is an understatement." She hissed, the words positively vehement, causing Tyson to shut up quickly and shrink back into the couch away from her. "I told you, I told you you were too sick!" She rounded on Kai. "You're so stubborn! If you'd died proving me wrong you wouldn't have minded one bit!"

That made him angry. "Like you'd have stubbornly gotten yourself killed in the China finals to prove to me you could win it!?"

"I made a promise!"

"You nearly died!"

"And you nearly fainted into the damn beydish! Next time you wake up with a raging fever I'm locking you in the bathroom and you can give me quadruple training for as far as I care! I shouldn't have let you come today! You're going to be so much sicker now, god! You probably have the flu, with that fever even pneumonia! I should've…should've just…just tied you to the damn bed or something! You stupid…stupid stubborn, idiot. Dammit."

She trailed off, running a shaking hand through her hair, worried eyes looking anywhere but his face, and the room was quiet again.

"I'm fine." He signed in defeat, anger giving way to the need to make Kaoru happy. "It's probably just a cold."

"How do you know?" She moaned miserably.

"Because it's not that bad." He implored her to see reason, "It's really not. I'll just rest up tonight and I'll be fine tomorrow."

"You'll rest tomorrow too." She growled, suddenly turning on him.

"Yeah, ok, fine, tomorrow too! Just stop worrying. It's not that big a deal. Really."

She sniffed but seemed to calm, the other too afraid still to say anything.

"Fine." She agreed slowly. "Ray, you can be in charge for the rest of the day. You'll tell them that Hiro's called Kai and I've tagged along to see my brother. The subject matter is classified. Max and Hilary will blade as planned."

"Don't boss my team around."

"Any thing you care to revise." She snapped at him, and Kai sighed.

"Do as she says."

Ray nodded, "Right."

"Go now." Kai added. "We've already been absent too long. They'll come looking soon."

Again the dark haired boy nodded. "Alright, come on guys. Max! You're up next. Are you ready?"

"Yeh, just about. Kenny, can you give Draciel the once over quickly."

The voices of their friends faded as they moved further down the wings and as they disappeared Kaoru sighed.

"Come on. Let's get you back to the hotel." She held out her hand.

* * *

When they got back she'd sent him straight to bed, ignoring when Kai insisted he wasn't tired.

He was asleep within ten minutes, the exertion of fighting through his fever having caught up with him almost quicker than Kaoru expected. She smiled, and rolled her eyes at him, softly sleepy in the tangle of covers on their bed.

"Not tired my ass."

The others arrived home about two hours later, victorious of course. Both Hilary and Max had won their matches, making it three for three, though Max had lost the first round of his match to a beyblade that they told Kaoru with wonder and excitement, could in fact fly.

"Yeah I know!" She agreed, walking out of their room quickly to grab a spoon from Ray before popping back in to sit with Kai as he ate dinner in bed, "But apparently it was like a helicopter-ish design! Isn't that amazing?!"

The boy frowned, taking the spoon from her and beginning his soup. "Less amazing than worrisome. We'd better look into it and make sure there aren't more of them in more skilled hands lurking around."

Kaoru sobered and nodded. "I'll get Kenny onto it."

"You know I could have sat at the table?"

She smiled, but did nothing to comply with his wish. "You could have, if I'd been silly enough to let you get up. But I'm sure you're just as capable of eating it here."

The boy frowned and Kaoru laughed at the sour expression.

Giving up the battle, Kai placidly sat up in their bed to eat his soup, while Kaoru sat next to him comfortably, reading his book. The soup was good, and she'd thought to close their door, knowing how much he'd hate to be seen like this. It occurred to him that Kaoru and he were really beginning to know each other well.

He looked at her then, simply watching her now familiar face. The soft smile that pressed across her lips as she read his book and enjoyed it, her eyes as they darted to and fro across the words. She was beautiful.

_You like her._

And then, as he hurried to banish the words from his mind he found something in her eyes that suddenly made something make sense. It was tiny. Just the smallest upturn of the brow that made her look, just ever, ever so slightly sad. He understood then, the anger from before, the worry in the morning, and her eager, almost desperate care of him through out the day. More than worry about his illness, it was-

"Something up Kai?" She glanced up at him with a smile.

"I'm going to be fine you know." He answered swiftly, and Kaoru blinked, surprise and confusion lifting her brows. "It's not going to be like your mum."

She frowned, "Why would you say-"

"You once told me about something that happened when you were younger. Some time after your mother died, Tyson had the flu, and you slept with him all night crying because you were afraid he would leave you like she did."

Kaoru didn't say anything. They hadn't talked about this sort of thing since the night she'd cried herself to sleep on his lap. Loneliness, and regret…Her brow furrowed, lips turned downward and she looked at him unhappily, waiting for him to stop.

"Isn't that what you're most afraid of? Losing the people you care about again? Being alone again? Kaoru?"

She couldn't respond, only watch him with that deep, almost angry sadness as he continued to decipher her like he shouldn't have been able.

"Isn't that why you were so worried this morning? Why you got angry with yourself for not making me rest? Why you're so keen to take care of me? Are you afraid I'll leave you too?"

Her eyes welled, but she refused to let the tears slip, glaring at him and willing him to stop.

"I won't." He told her, eyes meeting her boldly and giving a new promise, that he hadn't known she needed back when they'd made their first agreement. "I won't you know? I'm going to get better. And if I get sick in the future I'll get better too. Even if everyone else in the world dies I'll still be here. You'll never be alone again, okay?"

The tears fell one by one, running slowly down stubborn cheeks. She still refused to cry, refused to sob and moan and give in to the relief and sadness and need that she felt, but she couldn't stop the tears.

"Dumbass." Sighed Kai, but his voice was kind and he gentle cleaned the tears from her cheeks with his napkin. "Now take this back to the kitchen. I'm tired, you can stay up if you want, but I'm going to sleep."

She nodded then, and gave a gulped, and slightly wobbly, "Okay," before practically racing his bowl back into the kitchen. Then she was in the bathroom, crashing and banging around, the sound of an electric tooth brush humming, another bang and the door was thrown open, Kaoru in her night dress, the lights flicked off, and she was beside him in bed.

He couldn't help chuckled lightly at the frantic sleep preparations and in the light from their window saw her own embarrassed smile answer him back.

"Goodnight." He whispered.

"Goodnight."

He turned away and then in the silent darkness of their bedroom heard her voice once more.

"Kai?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

And fell asleep.

* * *

"Kai Hiwatari, that is IT!"

From the floor he stared at her, eyes wide and twitching.

Crap.

He'd woken up with the same fever and sweats that morning. He thought he'd felt fine but Kaoru disagreed, pushing him forcefully back into their bed and threatening to tie him to it if he didn't stay willingly.

Kai had agreed, grudgingly, he'd made a promise and, if it made her feel better…

In some small way he hated how he was letting her happiness rule him.

But the soft smile changed his mind. Truthfully he knew his body needed another day of rest.

"Ray, you'll have to be in charge again today. Since I'm apparently not allowed out that door." He glared at Kaoru who smiled brightly back. She'd made a huge concession by letting him have breakfast at the table, so he was going to make sure to use the time to get his team prepared for the day.

"Hey, why aren't I captain?" Asked Tyson haughtily, "I'm the world champ after all."

"And when I want to see the team fall apart I will make you captain Tyson but not before." Kai continued unfazed. "Since we're one short: go for the doubles battle. And don't lose."

"Oh." Smiled Hilary, "And here I was always trying to, thanks for clearing that up."

The team laughed. Kai rolled his eyes.

"What do we tell them?"

"That I'm still away with Hiro on some business."

He'd done it all perfectly well, without so much as being short of breath, but as he stood from the table his head gave one, single, swinging turn and he caught himself as he stepped. He knew what would happen before it did.

Kaoru was instantly beside him, arm holding his in case he fell. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Geez. I'm not that fragile you know. Let go."

"I'm not sure." She sat him back down. "You keep getting dizzy spells, and your fever is so high. I should stay and make sure you don't get worse."

"I'm fine."

"What about when you need food?!"

"I'll go to the kitchen?"

"What if you can't make it?"

"I'm not that sick. Beside, even with a flu I trust myself more with the kitchen than you."

She frowned. "I think I should stay. You guys will be ok without me right?"

There were affirmatives all round.

"See?"

"Forget it. We won't be two bladers short. You're going."

"But I-"

"Will go."

"But Kai!"

"Not buts!"

She pouted. "Fine. But I don't like this."

He'd begun the day rather enjoying being by himself, though the majority of it was sleeping, the hotel room was blessedly quiet without the idiots running around. When he didn't sleep he read his book, and when he couldn't read or sleep anymore he did some work on the laptop. It was only when he finished this that he realised, to his great surprise, that the silence in the hotel room, and the lack of human entertainment, was actually starting to bore him. He wondered when he had become so accustom to company.

Later in the day as Kaoru had foreseen he'd gotten hungry, and slipped out of bed to go and pick through the fridge in peace. He took out the cold noodles from the night before and heated them in the microwave. And as he stood and watched the plastic container rotate, he didn't notice as his eyes slowly clouded.

The oven dinged, and he stepped forward quickly and it was only then that the hot-cold, flush of blood leaving his face washed over him, his head swam and the foggy vision hit him full force. With desperation he stumbled back, _at least make it to the couch. Just the couch! _But it only took two steps before darkness seemed to erode his vision. With the little sense and strength he had left he lowered himself a little towards the floor to make the fall less.

He woke to the sound of a slammed door and his name, called in a high, happy voice. He groaned, his head was sore, and he was freezing. But that didn't make any sense, since he was supposed to have a fever. And then he remembered the kitchen, the tiled floor and fainting.

Someone gasped, "Kaoru!" It was Hilary, he struggled to lift his head and then heard the others enter the kitchen and stop short. He looked up at them, squinting in pain and now, he realized, faintly shivering.

What struck him immediately, even through the fog of pain, sickness and chill, was Kaoru's face, eyes wide, lips pressed, and radiating fury.

"Kai Hiwatari, that is IT!"

Was Kaoru always so scary?

Next thing he knew she was barking orders again and Tyson and Ray where half walking, half carrying him back to his room. Then she was there beside the bed.

"From now on, until I have a doctor confirm that you're better, you are staying in this bed, rugged up, resting! Since you can't seem to keep yourself safe, I will be staying with you from now on and that is non-negotiable! And I swear, Kai, if you get sicker there is going to be hell to pay!"

He shrunk back in the covers, not even wanting to argue with her, he was so cold.

"I don't need a nurse."

"Clearly you do."

"But the team needs you."

"Oh, well, anyone feel they're sufficiently not needed by the team that they can baby-sit?" She asked sarcastically over her shoulder, but it seemed his team had gone quiet in the face of Kaoru's fury. "Well then, I suppose it's settled."

"But-"

"No buts!"

He shut up. It had been getting lonely by himself after all.

* * *

TBC.

Well, that's all for now! But I thought I'd let you all know that I'm feeling really good about DMA right now so feel confident in seeing the next chapter soonish (but don't go crazy, it's not going to be up tomorrow, lol XD)

The reason I tried to get this chapter done so fast is because my dear friend and reader Miss Cloud is going off to the army in February. I hope you'll all wish her good luck! (And maybe pop over to her account and give her a few reviews as a going away present?)

Finally, if you're an NCIS fan please check out my new NCIS fanfics. They've gotten some good reviews so far, and I'm planning to post more in the near future.

Thanks for reading and remember, reviews don't take long, but they really mean a lot!


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